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Spokane Valley businesses take hard hit during summer road construction

Some local business owners are facing severe drops in business due to construction along Sprague Avenue and Sullivan Road.

SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — The long list of construction projects have had its toll on a a variety of local business owners, who are facing severe drops in business because of construction along Sprague Avenue and Sullivan Road.

Orange cones and barrels divide traffic into patterns that can make it difficult for drivers to access the parking lots of shops along parts of these roads.

Carla Kaley, the owner of Sculptured Gardens, said her business has seen a significant decline in customer visits. She said she has had to send some of her employees home in the middle of the day because the store’s daily income is not enough to support employees’ pay.

“The business has really dried up,” Kaley said. “It’s almost like a water faucet was turned off. We went from doing very well to some days having to close altogether.”

Just down the street from the nursery, The Stupid Cow Café has seen a similar drop in business. Manager Alex Daley said he had to lay off two employees over the past couple of weeks because of the loss in revenue.

“Our payroll can’t handle the amount of people we have staffed,” Daley said.

The café has only been open for a little more than three months. Daley said when it first opened, its parking lot was full every Saturday. But for several weekends, it has been nearly empty.

Daley said his biggest concern is not knowing exactly when the construction will be completed.

Businesses near the construction sites received a notice that said the road work would be completed near the end of August, but they could see the financial tolls heading into the fall.

“I don’t know how long we’ll be able to stay open if they go much past their deadline,” Daley said.

Brandi Lewis, manager at Zip’s Burgers on Sprague, said the decrease in customers has been nothing short of devastating.

“Our business for last month and this month has been a dramatic drop from like last year,” she said.

The City of Spokane Valley acknowledged on its website the effects that construction projects can have on the community. The city said they are working to do what they can to minimize those effects and work with businesses during construction seasons.

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