Shepherd construction causes headaches for businesses

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- If you drive along Shepherd, you know you have to dodge dozens of construction cones and work trucks. Roadwork has been ongoing for over a year, and many drivers and business owners in the area are getting fed up.

Lenny Lazarofsky struggles to keep customers coming to his Jiffy Lube franchise at the corner of Shepherd and Welch.

"We've owned the store since 2008, and this is the first year that we are going to be down," he told us.

Alvin Wright with the City of Houston tells us, this project will result in a major facelift for the major North/South corridor.

"In the end they are going to have an asset... it's going to improve their property values," Wright said.

The project will construct storm drainage improvements, concrete paving, sidewalks, driveways and underground utilities. According to the City, the road was beyond repair and needed to be completely rebuilt. The project is on track to be finished by the end of February.

Meantime, businesses are coming up with new ways to keep customers coming in. Lazarofsky designed a map to show customers how to access the Jiffy Lube via Welch, using side streets.

"There's ways to get to our shop other than shepherd, through the neighborhood, access on welch, and that has definitely helped," Lazarofsky said.

The project could have taken three years to complete, but the city chose to fast-track it... with bigger closures, but a quicker timeline.

"This is going to last past our lifetime, probably past our kids lifetimes," Wright said.

The goal is to create a road that will withstand the wear and tear of Houston traffic.