Businesses buckling down for end of light rail construction

Mesa TV & Appliance salesman Brian Richardson has a problem: His customers cant turn left into his driveway.

Light rail construction has divided Main Street into two one-way streets, and Richardson said its making business horrible.

When a customer is travelling eastbound looking for appliances, they cannot make a left-hand turn onto my driveway here, he said. So what theyll do theyll continue on and then make a right turn and go to my competition.

A tough stretch

Mesa TV & Appliance is not the only store off Main Street hurting because of the light rail construction, which is anticipated to finish in spring 2015. The extension will add stations to Alma School Road, Country Club Drive, Center Street and Mesa Drive.

Crew members hammer and weld, and cement trucks surround the unfinished tracks with a load to pour. Long lines of cars stream through the one-way roads. The intersection on Country Club Drive and Main is sometimes closed on the weekends, making things worse, Richardson said.

La Tiendita Caf, another store near the intersection of Main Street and Country Club Drive, spends portions of its mornings vacant of customers. Owner German Pardo said he hopes the expansion of the light rail will become a boon for local businesses.

Definitely, I think it will help. Its going to be better for everybody. The problem is, in the meantime, staying alive, he said. Because I know there are some businesses that went out of business. Once youre out of business, youre out of business.

Pardo said his caf would have closed a long time ago if it didnt bill itself as the sole Colombian-style restaurant in Arizona. La Tiendita Caf was less than a year old when Valley Metro began expanding the light rail from the current final stop at Dobson Road to Mesa Street, unlike Mesa TV & Appliance, which has built a customer base over 69 years.

Pardo says hes losing $4,000 to $5,000 per month due to the construction.

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Businesses buckling down for end of light rail construction