Store owners in East San Jose gathered at a community meeting to address a prolonged VTA construction project that they say is costing them business.
VTA is in the process of adding express bus lanes along Alum Rock Avenue between Highways 101 and 680 in San Jose, but the construction project is taking much longer than VTA originally said – another year, to be exact.
Several merchants argued that the bus lanes would have been finished had the construction site been located in a more affluent part of town.
VTA has denied those claims and has issued an apology. They say the delays stem from firing a contractor.
But the residents say that’s not enough.
“I start talking about it, and I get upset,” said Javier Sandoval, who works in a western wear shop near the construction site. He says he’s lost about 40 percent of his business because the roadways that lead to the store appear inaccessible to customers.
Restaurant owners in the area say that they have lost about 30 percent of business and have had to layoff employees.
Local
“VTA has been very sincere in its apology to the community,” said Brandi Childress. She added that when the bus lanes are finished, it will provide fast and frequent service to the community.
VTA has said it will open a satellite location to stay in touch with the merchants during the rest of the construction period.
