A bakery owner says he’s done with road work on St. Laurent Blvd., and plans on packing it in later this year.
Joe Alvaro's family bakery has been supplying bread to local restaurants for decades.
But after 50 years, Alvaro is planning to move the business.
“There's no parking. There's no space to walk on the side walk. You have maybe two feet wide to walk on the sidewalk. You can't come and buy stuff and leave with stuff,” he said.
Construction to build a bike path on St. Laurent started last summer, but work has stalled.
“Now it's a week that no one has been here. No work what so ever, but everything is still fenced up,” he said.
Alvaro says he loses at least $400 a day every day due to the construction.
He's complained to the city, but hasn't been told when work will resume.
In an email, city officials confirmed that road work has been put on hold since Aug. 8th because some electrical tubes need to be moved.
The city says it's pushing for the work to be completed as quickly as possible.
The bakery isn't the only one suffering -- other stores on this strip say that business is down.
And the fencing and construction mean most people don't even know some of the businesses are open.
“Our customers in the daytime can't stop so they don't stop. It's empty. Our business completely shut down,” said Jerry Colatrella, owner of Grappa Bar.
Colatrella says he’s heading toward having to close down, but Alvaro has already made up his mind – he’s leaving in December.
“It’s right after the construction (will wrap up), so (it’s) pointless. But for next summer, we won’t be here,” he said.
