JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – While the economy seems to rebound around him, a local small-business owner said his livelihood is being crushed by a road improvement project; not to mention the lack of courtesy shown by contractors working on the project.
The car lot is located on Beach Boulevard near Hogan Road, which is right in the middle of a project to resurface roads. The construction seems to be endless for auto dealership owner Haroon Sidiqi. Although the road work threatens the existence of his car dealership, the cones are still in place.
Sidiqi said he's at the end of his patience and he finally reached his boiling point Thursday. Road improvement contractors undid his work cleaning the cars and left him with products that don't look inviting to potential customers. And just when he thought the construction was over -- the next morning the workers came back.
"We clean, all my employees. We thought, thank God it's done. And this morning, before I can open the door, they started again," he said.
Sidiqi said he tried to talk with the contractors but couldn't break through a language barrier. He also said he complained to the city and the police before calling News4Jax. He said spends $10 per car to have them professionally cleaned. Each time he does that he's having about 30 cars cleaned, so the dollars add up.
"I'm tired, you know. At least they could talk to me. I keep paying $200-$300 dollars every time," Sidiqi said.
It is no surprise that paying for the costly cleaning could put a hurting on his business, especially when things are slow. He said he can't wait for the project to end.
Sidiqi said he thought the project was city related but News4JAX discovered it's a Florida Department of Transportation project between FOP Way and Parental Home Road. According to FDOT's website, the project should be done spring 2015, which may be just in time for Sidiqi.
Other businesses could be affected at some point because the project covers several miles of roadway on Beach Boulevard.