Burlington businesses say Main St. construction putting a dent in their bottom line

BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Burlington’s multi-year makeover of Main Street got underway earlier this year but some businesses say it’s already hurting their bottom line. As the summer tourism season gets underway, some owners want the public to know that they are open and ready for business.

“Come check out the Bern Gallery, you know?” said the gallery’s Paddy Donnelly.

“We’re totally open, yeah, come on down, come get some feed,” said Andrew Waterhouse with Ali Baba’s Kabob Shop.

At Bern Gallery, Donnelly says the dispensary and smoke shop posted one of the worst April sales months ever, which he attributes to a closed Main Street. “We want this stuff to get done. We want, you know, Burlington to be looking as as good as it can be and be as safe a place as it can be. And so you know, we’re totally behind all that. But yeah, of course, it’s a little frustrating,” he said. “I’m confident that the summer vibes will will be flowing, you know, really, really soon but it’s been very visible. You know, we’ve definitely had some record bad numbers, which no one wants.”

It’s a similar story just up the street at Ali Baba’s. “It’s slowed down business quite a bit. There’s a lot less customers coming in because we rely on foot traffic,” Waterhouse said. “There’s a lot of people that come down from campus, too, that probably think about, there’s construction downtown so they probably assume that we are closed.”

Burlington Public Works Director Chapin Spencer says construction will continue throughout the summer across three blocks on Main Street — one at a time — as crews fix antiquated underground pipes. “Many of the utilities under the street are over 100 years old. It’s going to be a more resilient, more active, more vibrant street for everyone to enjoy,” he said. But Spencer says hs is aware of the stress on businesses. “What each of us can do is to patronize the businesses that are local, that are great, that make our communities special during this time, because frankly, we’re better with them. And we need to help them get through this together.”

City officials say that Main Street will once again be open starting May 13 for at least through UVM’s graduation. Click here for more details and the latest updates.

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