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Dormont store owners say construction is killing business

DORMONT, Pa. — Summer and road construction go hand in hand, but a convenience store owner in one community said it’s killing business.

The owner of the store in Dormont contacted Channel 11 and asked that we look into the construction taking place on Potomac Avenue.

Channel 11 spoke with the store manager who said customers can’t get into his business because the roads and sidewalks are closed.

With the first extensive construction on the road in nearly four decades, entire sections of it are closed and traffic is being re-routed.

“Nobody knows how to get here or that we are even open,” said Becky Trautman, store manager of the CoGo’s gas station on Potomac Avenue.

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That gas station and convenience store is where a lot of the construction work is being done. Trautman and the store’s owner told Channel 11 they have lost 75 percent of their customers who cannot figure out how to get into their parking lot.

Trautman and the owner said receipts are “way down,” and they have even had to throw away food because no one is around to buy it.

Ben Estell, manager of Dormont Borough, said the borough’s public works is going to “put some signs together” in order to tell potential customers the businesses are open and how to reach them.

“We’ll put those (signs) up along the route to let people know the business is open,” Estell said.

Estell told Channel 11 the end is in sight.

All road work on Potomac Avenue is set to be completed by the middle of October.