A major road and utility improvement project in Fort Worth’s growing Medical District has dragged on for nearly a year, and one small business owner says the construction is costing him thousands of dollars and has forced him to cut jobs.
Eliazar Salinas opened Frezko Taco Spot on 8th Avenue last year. A few months later, construction signs and traffic barriers went up, and Salinas said his sales tumbled.
“When the construction happened, it was just like a slap to the face. It went from us doing about 1,000. $800, $900 a day to make it $150, $250 a day,” Salinas said.
Salinas said the impact was almost immediate.
“It was just one day. There was just a bunch of cones out here, big equipment and no sales,” Salinas said.
The project supports road and utility improvements for the growing Medical District. Fort Worth District 9 City Council Member Elizabeth Beck acknowledged the frustration surrounding the work.
“I understand people’s frustrations. I truly do. It is frustrating,” Beck said.
Beck said work hours have been extended in an effort to speed up construction. This phase of the project is now expected to wrap up by the end of September.
“Instead of from nine to four daily, they’ll be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and that’s in a hope to expedite the process,” Beck said.
Until then, Salinas said he is relying on his other locations to help keep the 8th Avenue restaurant open. He has also eliminated night hours, resulting in job cuts.
“We had to actually terminate our night hours. You know, two people lost their jobs because of it. Cause I mean, we were just surviving,” Salinas said.
Salinas said he hopes to see some relief from the city as he waits for the construction barriers to disappear and customers to return.
“Literally, we’ve been on an island by ourselves, and no one’s came to help at all,” Salinas said.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC DFW. AI tools helped convert the story into a digital article, and an NBC DFW journalist edited it again before publication.