{"id":281492,"date":"2025-10-06T10:28:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-06T10:28:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/281492\/"},"modified":"2025-10-06T10:28:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T10:28:27","slug":"construction-on-lovers-lane-is-a-concern-for-small-businesses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/281492\/","title":{"rendered":"Construction on Lovers Lane is a concern for small businesses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ongoing construction along Lovers Lane\u2019s \u201cMiracle Mile<\/a>\u201d has transformed one of the busiest avenues in University Park into a construction zone, leaving small business owners concerned.<\/p>\n

Between machinery, orange cones, and road closures, many customers have stopped coming into stores because of parking difficulties caused by the work on Lovers between Douglas Avenue and the Dallas North Tollway<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur sales have dropped by up to 50% in recent weeks,\u201d said Jos\u00e9 Romo, manager of Chip\u2019s Old Fashioned Hamburgers<\/a>, a restaurant on the corner of Lovers Lane and Lomo Alto Drive. \u201cOn weekends, it picks up a little, but Monday through Friday, it\u2019s really tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Construction began in May and is expected to wrap up in May 2026, according to information from the city of University Park<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Restaurant News<\/p>\n

Get the scoop on the latest openings, closings, and where and what to eat and drink.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The $11.64 million project began to take shape in 2018, and final plans were submitted last December. The project with SYB Construction was approved in March.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe project has been discussed and developed in collaboration with property owners, businesses and residents over the last seven years,\u201d Paige Ruedy, community information officer of University Park, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"Jose<\/p>\n

Jose Romo, manager of Chip’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers poses for a portrait next to a sign placed outside the business letting people know they are open.<\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

This project was originally approved under Dallas County Public Works\u2019 7th Call for Projects in 2019 as a $9.21 million project, with Dallas County committing to 50% of the costs, or $4.6 million. The city of University Park also submitted the project to DART for their Public Transportation Improvement Funding, and it was approved for $2.154 million in reimbursement, according to information provided by University Park.<\/p>\n

Although work is on schedule, small businesses are suffering and want to let people know they\u2019re still open.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis construction work has had a huge impact,\u201d Romo said. \u201cPeople have to drive around a lot, and there\u2019s nowhere to park. At lunchtime, the parking lot is full and many people decide to look for another option.\u201d<\/p>\n

At Chip\u2019s, the drop in sales has impacted the lives of its more than 20 employees, as their working hours have been cut to avoid layoffs.<\/p>\n

Another business that has been impacted is K&L Bagels<\/a>, which opened its doors just a couple of weeks ago and has seen a difference in customer flow.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn weekends, it\u2019s easier for people to come and shop because several businesses are closed, which leaves free parking spaces for our customers,\u201d said Jaz Lopez, who works at the shop. \u201cThere\u2019s nowhere for people to park, and many tell us they had to leave because they couldn\u2019t find a spot.\u201d<\/p>\n

The project includes street paving, sidewalks, utility upgrades, lighting and traffic signal improvements, parking and beautification improvements, such as landscaping and pavers.<\/p>\n

Once repaving along Lovers Lane was completed, work began on repaving the parking area in front of the businesses, which makes passage to Interbank, Sugar and Sage Bakery, Barbecues Galore, and Firestone, among others, more difficult.<\/p>\n

\"Open<\/p>\n

Open sign remain outside the businesses along Lovers Ln. in a construction site, on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2025 in Dallas. <\/p>\n

Shafkat Anowar \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Next, work will proceed to the next block, which features businesses such as Hudson House and the Elements clothing store. Finally, it will reach the last block, where Chip\u2019s is.<\/p>\n

Later, work will cover the parking lot of the businesses across the street, which currently is being used as an avenue for traffic detours to the east.<\/p>\n

Ruedy said the city of University Park doesn\u2019t provide financial assistance or business interruption stipends related to construction projects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city has a responsibility to maintain and replace aging and failing infrastructure to ensure long-term safety and service reliability for the entire community,\u201d she said in the statement.<\/p>\n

One of the measures implemented by the city was to open the parking lot at 4141 Lovers, next to Highland Park High School, and designate a golf cart shuttle to transport customers who want to reach those businesses. However, according to business owners, few people use it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ongoing construction along Lovers Lane\u2019s \u201cMiracle Mile\u201d has transformed one of the busiest avenues in University Park into…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":281493,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,1596,7712,2105,9733,988,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,48919,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-281492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-fortworth","11":"tag-food-and-drink","12":"tag-restaurant-news","13":"tag-restaurants","14":"tag-texas","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-united-states","17":"tag-united-states-of-america","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","20":"tag-university-park","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115326753787040530","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281492\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}