‘Shooting ourselves in the foot’: KIRO hosts call on Seattle to help businesses hurt by construction

Seattle’s construction projects are meant to improve roads and infrastructure, but KIRO fill-in host Angela Poe Russell said the city is hurting small businesses and its own tax revenue when that work isn’t managed with care.

Discussing construction projects across Seattle on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, Angela and KIRO host Ursula Reutin said the city needs to do more to help businesses survive disruptions it creates.

“If we do not take care with the way we do it, you are not only harming your small business community, you’re then reducing the revenue that comes in via sales taxes,” Angela said. “It’s shooting ourselves in the foot.”

Road closures, torn-up sidewalks and blocked parking are making it harder for customers to reach some businesses. Angela said that even when she wants to support them, she sometimes can’t.

“There are businesses I want to go support, and I can’t get there,” Angela said. “I can’t park. I couldn’t support you if I wanted to.”

Seattle council president points to projects piling up across Seattle

Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth has pointed to construction affecting several neighborhoods, including the Garfield Super Block in the Central District, marina work in Leschi, Seattle Public Utilities infrastructure replacement along 12th Avenue in the Pike/Pine area, and the Washington State Department of Transportation’s ongoing work on SR 520.

Hollingsworth described hearing directly from business owners about the impact.

“I’ve heard from restaurants that have lost significant business. Some are only doing $200 for an entire lunch service,” Hollingsworth said. “I’ve heard about bus disruptions, route changes, people waking up to construction noise, long traffic jams, rough roads, blocked sidewalks and businesses that are simply harder to get to.”

Ursula noted that Hollingsworth also wants the city to do a better job of telling people what is closed, how to get around it, and how long disruptions will last. In the meantime, Hollingsworth encouraged residents to help.

“We can also do our part by continuing to shop local, eat local and support the neighborhoods that we love,” she said.

Angela urges officials to ‘make it right’

Angela agreed that infrastructure improvements are needed, but she recalled driving past affected businesses and hoping the city was compensating them, only to learn it wasn’t. She credited Hollingsworth for showing empathy and urged officials to consider how to “make it right” for business owners.

Ursula described a similar experience with businesses near her on Eastlake.

“I used to go to lunch at a lot of these places,” Ursula said. “I cannot find parking.”

Angela and Ursula offer ideas for helping businesses through construction

Asked what local governments owe businesses affected by construction, Angela outlined several steps, starting with talking to owners before work begins and scheduling around their busiest periods. She also suggested grants, comparing them to programs that help businesses repair broken windows.

“This is no fault of the business owner. It’s something the city needs to do,” Angela said. “Why should they be harmed over your construction process?”

She added that the city should prioritize finishing projects as quickly as possible.

Ursula proposed building support into project budgets from the start.

“If you are going to create the hardship as the city, you need to help businesses survive it,” Ursula said. “For major projects, set aside a small percentage of the construction budget from day one, specifically to help the businesses get through it.”

Angela recalls a Ballard business forced to move

Angela said the way a city governs has ripple effects on businesses, pointing to a longtime Ballard candy shop that relocated after a large encampment remained nearby for years and customers stopped coming.

“They said, ‘Yeah, we had to move. They left that encampment there for so many years that people stopped coming to the candy shop. So we had to relocate somewhere else,'” Angela said.

Ursula agreed that government decisions can hit small businesses hard.

“The negligence actually impacts, greatly, some of these businesses that we say are the backbone of our society,” she said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.