ST. MICHAELS, Md. - In St. Michaels, a sidewalk improvement project, now in its third year, has some temperatures flaring on Talbot Street.
"I woke up Monday morning, and got a call and a text saying that there's a ton of construction, there's holes in front of your building, there's guys everywhere doing work, and it's a mess," said Chris Agharabi, owner of Ava's Pizzeria and Wine Bar.
Agharabi had no idea that work was scheduled for Monday in front of his business.
But seemingly out of nowhere, a construction crew hired by the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) descended on the sidewalk outside of the business, blocking the sidewalk and driveway.
Agharabi had deliveries scheduled for the day, and also had a full Monday staff on duty.
The construction seriously hurt the day's business.
"Oh, we were off seventy five percent at least," Agharabi said. "I know other businesses were too. I got phone calls from other people saying they were way down in reservations."
Agharabi said that MDOT left a door hanger on his business Thursday describing the work, but the information on it was out of date - without much else information.
"When you turned it over it said, 'Notice of Sidewalk Improvements'. The location was blank, the date was blank, and the hours were blank," Agharabi said.
When Agharabi reached out MDOT via text message about the lack of information on the door hanger, a representative, Jessica, replied "The date/time was left blank so I could receive contact from you/your establishment so we could work around your schedule. I never received contact from anyone."
The hanger merely said to reach out for more information about the project, but nothing about calling to schedule times and dates of work.
Agharabi said that if he had known when the work crew would be working in front of his business, he could have rescheduled deliveries and adjusted work schedules.
The project, to improve sidewalks to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act standards, should have been completed in 2023, but mistakes by the previous contractor required the rework going on this year.
Talbot Street businesses are increasingly frustrated with the work.
"I at this point don't have a lot of confidence in the project given that it should have been done two years ago, so It's a little bit challenging to believe that they'll get it right this time," said David Gellar of Shore Pedal and Paddle.
WBOC reached out to MDOT several times Wednesday for their side of the story, but they had not replied by Wednesday's deadline.
A MDOT website dedicated to the Talbot Street project says that weather permitting, all work should be done in May 2024.
