Community advocates and small business owners say mounting delays on a county infrastructure project along Northwest 22 Avenue are continuing to threaten local Black-owned businesses.
The Black Collective, a Miami-based advocacy group, is calling attention to the heavy financial strain caused by prolonged roadwork at a planned rally and demonstration Thursday at Famous Car Wash, 8255 NW 22nd Ave., a neighborhood fixture operating along the corridor since 2016.
The event is part of organization’s “Save Our Black Businesses” campaign, which demands immediate financial relief, restored customer access, and institutional accountability for impacted merchants.
The economic disruption, say activists, stems from a Miami-Dade County water and sewer infrastructure project spanning NW 22nd Avenue between NW 79th Street and NW 90th Street.
Originally slated for completion in June 2024 with a budget of $7.25 million, the project encountered unforeseen underground conditions and utility conflicts.
This year, Miami-Dade County approved a 1,000-day extension alongside an additional $5.41 million in funding — pushing the total cost to roughly $12.66 million and extending the estimated completion date to March 17, 2027.
READ MORE: Small business says Miami-Dade construction project is threatening its survival
Local business owners say they have gotten little support to offset what they are the physical barriers choking off customer traffic.
Famous Car Wash owner Eddie Young told the Miami Times last June that his business had been generating between $400 and $700 per day in sales. The daily revenue went down to about $75 to $130. He was forced to trim staff from 10 workers to four workers.
Advocates and business owners say short-term government grants have fallen fall far short of bridging the loss of revenues during the three-year delay in construction. Famous Car Wash, for example, reported getting a $20,000 grant from the Northwest 79th Street Corridor Community Redevelopment Agency through its “Business Interruption Relief Grant Program.”
The Black Collective is demanding that county leaders create a commission to carry out an independent economic loss analysis within the next 30 days to document projected financial losses across all affected businesses along the corridor and then compensate them for the decline in revenue.
“Protecting Black-owned businesses must be a priority, and relief cannot wait while these businesses continue to struggle to survive,” the advocates said in a statement before Thursday’s rally and demonstration.