CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Fernando Rosas slaps a mahi-mahi on the grill, dousing it in oil and wondering what kind of business the day will bring for him. He’s the owner of Guajillo’s, which is located on the Island in Corpus Christi.
Some days are good and some are bad for Rosas.
That’s because construction on the Park Road 22 bridge and channel is affecting the amount of customers he gets, meaning less sales.
“It’s some problem with some people that they can’t find us fast. Because they are driving, they don’t have a way to see any signs that they could take a right,” Rosas said.
He said construction is mostly affecting tourists who don’t know their way around the island.
However, he said it’s also affecting the number of accidents happening in front of his business.
“This year in Spring Break there was a big accident here in front of the entrance, in front of the restaurant,” Rosas said
Travis Klaus who owns the Slip, a bar on the island next to Guajillo’s, has the same concerns. He said construction is affecting the number of customers he receives and sales.
“It just seems like I’ve watched the decline in gross receipts probably 10-12 percent and that fluctuated with the difference in the times they were open; both lanes were open,” Klaus said.
He said construction companies will put out barrel cones that block access to his business and their trucks will also block the driveway leading up to the Slip.
He’s asking the construction companies to communicate when they do that so he can alert customers.
The City of Corpus Christi engineering department said they’re projecting the Park Road 22 project will be complete in May of 2023.
