Local

Plaza Midwood business owners concerned over road work

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Several Business owners in Plaza Midwood reached out to Channel 9 after they say city road improvement projects are keeping customers away.

Eyewitness News took their concerns to find out what can be done to fix it.

Bumpy roads and loose gravel is all that's left behind in Plaza Midwood after Charlotte Department of Transportation crews worked to resurface Central Avenue. Residents and business owners said they were mad the work was done during peak hours.

Jimmy Margiotis is the owner of the newly opened Rusty Onion Restaurant in Charlotte. He's also the owner of John's Country Kitchen in Plaza Midwood. He says he's dealt with the city on numerous occasions and feels the most recent construction kept customers away Tuesday morning. Margiotis said he would have appreciated at least an advance notice of at least a week.

"During that time period when the crews started, our day here was done. I was out of here at 11:05 a.m.," said Margiotis.

The city is resurfacing two blocks of Central Avenue between the Plaza and Pecan Avenue.

The city said the work part of the resurfacing schedule that started Monday and said signs were posted about a week ago.

It also said crews are set to work from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. until next week.

When Channel 9 checked, there weren't noticeable signs or anyone working Wednesday morning but the road was torn up.

Mark Sprinkle has lived in Plaza Midwood for more than 30 years. He's also a small-business owner and said they don't get enough consideration.

He said the work didn't need to be done in the first place. Sprinkle said there are other improvement projects in Plaza Midwood the city should focus on first.

"Now they'll have to come back and do all that again, so you've got all that redundancy," Sprinkle said.

Business owners told Eyewitness News they'd rather the work be done at night. The city said it can't because of noise concerns.

The city said the work is schedule to be done by the end of next Friday.