Telegraph and 7 Mile construction tests patience of drivers, business owners

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A major road project underway at Telegraph and Seven Mile is causing a headache for drivers and local businesses say it is hurting them.

"It’s horrible, just a horrible experience," said Ahmed Thabit.

Thabit’s gas station on the northeast corner of the intersection is caught up in the construction.

Hilary Golston, FOX 2: "How has your business declined?"

"We went down from $2,500 a day in sales to now, $350 dollars a day in sales," he said.

The entrance from Telegraph is blocked. He says it’s been like this for months.

The two-year project to re-construct this stretch of Telegraph means you can’t get there from Seven Mile while crews work.

"This is an old road, so it is at the end of its useful life. So we will completely rebuild the road from the bottom up," said Bill Erben, MDOT.

In the meantime, reduced lanes and the ongoing work means difficult detours for drivers and for the people who have to get where they’re going on foot - in some cases walking right through the construction, which isn’t advisable.

"You've got to understand this community," Thabit said. "I would say 60 percent of them are walking around, they’re taking the busses to work. It’s hurting the community a lot."

Drivers have trying to go through parking lots in an attempt to access the road - raising concerns from the people who live in a nearby parking complex, where kids play outside.

"We get the miraculous U-turns at almost 30 miles an hour inside of the complex," said Kajuan Hayden, a resident. "It’s definitely a problem with Seven Mile being cut off from Telegraph. We have to make different ways to get home, and different ways to get the kids to school..

Erben with MDOT, says he spoke with more than 20 homeowners last week in the area and they’re receptive to the project – which also includes sidewalk ramp upgrades, sign replacements, traffic signal and lighting changes, and making the interchange at Eight Mile more efficient.

"People will be glad when we’re done but they’ll be thankful for a new road," Erban said.

MDOT promised to create some temporary access to Ahmed’s gas station from Telegraph.

Come mid-September we expect Seven and Telegraph to be opened.