LAKE ASBURY – The road closure at the intersection of Sandridge and Henley roads hasn’t just separated multiple neighborhoods, it’s created a crippling barrier for businesses that depend on local customers.

In addition to a traffic nightmare, the two-month construction project has made it extremely difficult for residents to access grocery stores and locally-owned businesses.

Roadwork isn’t the first time owner Skylar Davis and his Dalton’s Sports Grill employees have been affected by construction.

He said construction on Blanding Boulevard north of County Road 218 wasn’t the only reason he moved his business from Middleburg to Lake Asbury two years ago, but it certainly was a factor.

“Now, here we are, dealing with the (Sandridge-Henley Road) construction issue,” Davis said.

The Dalton’s owner isn’t worried about his business surviving.

“I survived Hurricane Irma when it shut down the (Black Creek) bridge (on CR-218). I survived the previous building, which was literally falling apart to the ground on me. I’ve been known to take one on the chin and keep moving. We’ll make it through it,” he said.

Davis is more concerned for his neighbors across the street at Asbury Commons, south of his popular beer, burger and chicken wing joint, a little more than a football field from the construction site.

“I’m not upset or angry (about the construction). It’s just that no one thinks about how bad it’s hurting the mom-and-pop businesses around here. If anybody can be a voice for the small businesses, I’m going to be a voice for them,” Davis said.

Davis and other small business owners in the area said they weren’t forewarned. And the county put up barricades into the Glenhaven neighborhood to keep people from bypassing construction. A quarter-mile trip to the grocery now is a 10-mile trip along Sandridge to Russell Road to Henley Road.

“They didn’t even tell us that they would be starting the project,” he said.

Construction equipment, potholes and debris run along Sandridge, ending at the intersection of Asbury Commons and Lake Asbury Food Mart.

Customers commuting is crucial to maintaining a successfully-running operation for Tony Rahal, owner of the Food Mart, a locally-owned convenience store and gas station.

With the road bottled up until at least July 30, Rahal’s sales have halted.

A store representative said that a usually-packed store open from 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily had only seen fewer than 15 customers by 2 p.m. on Friday.

Rahl said he is so upset with the project that he struggles even attempting to visit the site of his once-bustling business.

He hardly ever returns to the store – at least for now. He isn’t interested in seeing the damage to his bottom line the construction has caused.

“I get upset every time I go there. I ask employees (how things are going) once a week because I don’t want to see it,” he said.

But even worse was little forewarning – or lack thereof, he said. Rahl said he wasn’t given any advanced notice.

“They could have at least told me something, so I could have tried to plan,” Rahl said.

Cones and construction vehicles line the outside of his business, which is Ground Zero for the melee. In the meantime, the project has crippled his sales because thousands of loyal customers along Sandridge Road now have to drive nearly 10 miles to get to his store.

On the first day of construction, he said workers came in unannounced and cut off his water. Out went the soda machine and slushie machines, coffee makers and more. He had no other option than to pay out of pocket for refurbishments.

“I don’t want to go there,” he said.

The sports grill and convenience store owners understand road widening needs to be made to keep pace with growth, but both wish they were approached so they could plan.

“I know they’re doing their job, and I appreciate it, but it’s hurting business, and (the county) could have (approached it) in a different way. They could have left one lane open,” Rahal said.

“I get that they’ve got a job to do, and it needs to be done, but it’s definitely slowing our business down,” Davis said.

Dinner sales at Dalton’s have declined due to the 10-mile round-trip that used to be two miles or less for take-out and sit-down orders.

“If they are having to drive that far, they might as well (eat here),” he said.

Several repeat customers, all of whom he knows by name, aren’t able to make the trip like like normal.

“A lot of people live in this area, but it’s such a drive to get here,” Davis said.

More planning would be better next time around, Davis said.

“This is self-inflicted. Somebody could have said, ‘Hey, this is about to happen.’ (The county) could have gone to the neighborhood, spoken with residents, and used that as a passage-through. Now, it’s really inconvenient to get here, and they’re building thousands and thousands of homes back there. Traffic flow is constantly being messed up. It’s chaos,” he said.

All hope business will return to normal after construction is complete.

But Zelda Bulut, owner and operator of Zac’s Pizza, isn’t buying the hype, and she’s worried about the potential implications that the construction could have on the small business.

“It is literally killing our business. Our customers can’t come to (the location). The construction workers are not doing their jobs. Why can’t we get this over with? It’s cutting our business and delivery down because nobody wants to drive,” she said.