The full closure of Hamilton’s Garner Road has officially begun, and with it, a drastic reduction in sales for the businesses along the thoroughfare.
“We are struggling,” Mohamad Ishaq, the owner of Sarai Fresh Foods, says. “Our customers are struggling, we are upset, and we’re not making anything.”
He and many other business owners along the Garner Road corridor have been struggling to financially recover ever since the pandemic, but with a full five-week closure starting Sep. 5, he says things are only getting harder.
The closure comes as part of a water main replacement project and stretches from Shaver Road to Panabaker Drive.
READ MORE: 70% of small businesses experienced construction related disruptions: report
Julie Kwiecinski, a director for the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB), says her agency has been advocating for municipalities to do more for local businesses when construction impacts their bottom line.
This follows a recent study from the CFIB that found 70 percent of small businesses across Canada will experience a financial burden from construction projects at some point in their existence.
