Hardy St. Construction Affects Businesses - WHLT 22 Connecting the Pine Belt

Hardy St. Construction Affects Businesses

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - It's one of the busiest roads in the city, Hardy Street is under construction, but while workers finish up the project, businesses along the road said the development affects them directly.

"Once they started moving the big trucks in and started a lot of the dirt work, there has been a significant decrease in traffic," said Justin Green, owner of Firehouse Subs. He said customers complain about the road work daily.

"People say, man it took us a while to get in here, we couldn't find a way in,'"Green said. " A lot of the customers are just very frustrated. "

Green said that causes some drivers to just pass them by, which means a small lunch crowd for them.

"From 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., that's are lunch rush and that's where we make 70 percent of our income," he said. "Over the last month, there's been a 35 to 40 percent decrease which is very significant in a restaurant, anytime you have that much you really have to watch every dollar."

Brady Leatherwood said she  travels up and down Hardy Street everyday. She said the construction has created more chaos.

"Hardy Street has always been difficult, but the construction has made it a lot more difficult," she said.

Unlike some, Leatherwood said she will sit through the traffic to get to the businesses on the road.

"I will still sit in the traffic to get to those businesses, it's not like it determines whether or not I go to it or not," she said.

Until this project is finished, Green said he and his customers will just have to ride it out.

"We are going to have to weather the storm just like anybody else," he said.

The construction is scheduled to be finished by July if everything goes according to plan.