Imagine opening up a new business to only make a few dollars a day.

It's the reality of one South Central El Paso restaurant and bar owner who blames his small earnings on construction.

La Cruda 20 off Alameda Avenue and Concepcion Street has been open for a couple of months.

Part-owner and manager Julio Salcedo says his family picked this spot without knowing anything about the Alameda Project.

He tells KFOX14 once they found out about the roadwork his uncle spoke with the project engineer and they were guaranteed an entrance from Alameda Avenue would remain open for their business.

Now that crews have started work on the southbound lanes near the shopping center in which La Cruda is located, that entrance is blocked and the only way in is through Paisano Drive.

Salcedo said another problem is construction crews park their vehicles in the shopping center's private parking lot.

"I had sent you a picture where they had one of their big dump trucks just right here taking up parking space. Another time they had about four or five trucks parked over here. It's just a terrible situation. We're trying to find a resolution but when we call its they tell us to call over here call over there. It's a back and forth thing," he said.

KFOX14 contacted the Texas Department of Transportation about these issues and spokeswoman Blanca Del Valle said the project engineer has not spoken to any of the business owners in the area.
She also sent a picture of the work zone outlining the TxDOT right-of-way boundary that is parallel to the parking lot of the shopping center.

The current construction debris is within the TxDOT ROW but Salcedo said a couple of days ago this was not the case.

Del Valle said the project engineer will continue to monitor the area.

Also, the project is still on schedule and expected to be complete by February 2013.