Heights-area restaurant owner during construction project: 'Businesses are going to die'

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Businesses along a main artery in The Heights said their sales have dropped as construction to modernize the roads has continued.

Ground was broken on the Shepherd-Durham Project in 2021, according to the Memorial-Heights Redevelopment Authority.

The budget for Phase 1 of the project is $50 million. It is supposed to improve drainage, add turning lanes and bike lanes, put new traffic lights and street lights, upgrade transit stops and landscaping, and improve crosswalks.

Phi Nguyen, owner of The Waffle Bus, said construction started in front of his restaurant on Shepherd and 19th Street in February 2023. Already, he has noticed a 50% drop in sales.

Nguyen's restaurant has also gone from 35 employees to 18 employees.

"The traffic, the cones, the dust..." Nguyen said. "There are days I've been trying to come to my restaurant... we have extra parking in the back, and I have trouble getting to it. I have to drive past the restaurant five blocks, make a U-turn, come back, and make a circle just to get here."

Nguyen said he dreamt of opening a brick-and-mortar restaurant when he started his food truck in 2012. He saved money and was able to open in October 2019.

"If you thought you could survive COVID, you can survive anything," Nguyen said. "I don't think COVID was as bad as this."

He said he fears people think parking was already limited enough in The Heights prior to construction and will just go elsewhere.

A few blocks down the street is Mico's Hot Chicken. Owner Christopher Frydenlund said they have also felt the effects of the construction.

"As they got more intense in construction, so did the decrease in sales," Frydenlund said.

Nguyen and Frydenlund said they have experienced disruptions in their utilities, like water outages, without notice.

"We had a day where we had no gas. We also had a catering event and had customers lined up to eat their lunch before they had to go back to work and we had to send customers away," Frydenlund said.

The men both said they see the benefit of the construction.

According to the owner, a light will be installed next to Mico's Hot Chicken, which he said he anticipates will bring customers.

"We still need the support in the area, because if people avoid construction, what are we supposed to do?" Nguyen said. "They're doing all this for nothing. Businesses are going to die. Businesses are struggling."

The MHRA said they anticipate construction between 15th Street and I-610 will be finished in the fall of 2025.

Construction from I-10 to 15th Street is expected to begin in mid-2024.

MHRA issued the following statement:

"The Shepherd-Durham Project is a multi-year improvement project that broke ground in 2021 and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2025. The project will bring much-needed roadway improvements along Shepherd Drive, Durham Drive, and certain cross streets from 15th to I-610. This area hasn't seen significant infrastructure updates since the 1950s. Construction on Shepherd Dr. and Durham Dr. is essential to the community because it will remedy or lessen residents' many challenges, including a high crash rate in the area, lack of multimodal and regional access, flooding, and congestion. Additionally, the Shepherd and Durham project adds continuous pedestrian and bicycle facilities along both streets, new street lighting with pedestrian lighting, and provides for trees along the entire corridor. Weekly construction updates are available at www.shepherddurham.com."

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