Piedras Street Businesses Are Sweating In El Paso

El Paso Water and the city of El Paso are about to start new projects that may seriously impact some local businesses. I'll start asking folks to help now ...

Between water main repairs and street repaving, the 5 points area in central El Paso is going to be a mess. A mess that could make a mess of all the businesses in the area, many of which are locally owned.

You can't go anywhere in El Paso these days without having to deal with construction or roadwork or some kind of issue. It's annoying but for local businesses it can be devastating. Let's support them throughout this ordeal.

Back to back, the upcoming projects could have 5 Points tied up for almost an entire year.

What's Happening In 5 :Points?

El Paso Water goes first, replacing water mains. They'll have the northbound lanes jacked up from Pershing to Tularosa for 4 - 5 months.  After that, the first phase of the Piedras Street Reconstruction & Improvements project kicks in.

That one screws up everything from Yandell to Montana and isn't expected to be finished until January, 2027. That one will cut Piedras down to one lane, permanently, for a number of things. According to ktsm, those projects include:

• New asphalt paving
• Expanded 10-foot sidewalks
• New parking striping
• Curb and gutter improvements
• Water harvesting systems
• Fresh landscaping to revitalize the corridor

Support Local El Paso Businesses

Sadly, all 5 Points businesses are going to take a hit and, worst of all, some won't survive this. Let's do what we can to help them all weather the storm and not totally avoid the area. Sure, it's annoying and may require a little extra walking but, c'mon ... these are our friends and neighbors.

The money you spend down there isn't buying some billionaire a new yacht, it's buying a kid a new bike, supporting a baseball team, helping Mom 'n Dad pay medical bills. This is serious. It's important. It's "us". KEEP GOING TO 5 POINTS!

Navigating  5 Points

If you have limited time for a lunch break and can't sit in traffic or waste time looking for parking, I get it. Just make plans for dinner  ... or happy hour, shopping, whatever ... after work instead. If you don't want to deal with the parking issues, use public transportation, take an Uber or just have someone drop you off.

Remember, you can also order from a lot of these places and have it delivered. You don't necessarily have to physically be there to keep 'em doing what they do and making $$.

READ MORE: El Paso Construction Damages Cars

Local businesses could also form some sort of a co-op to get shuttles cruising the area picking peeps up and dropping them off. If you have any other ideas, please, put 'em in the comments below.

El Paso Strong

That became El Paso's rallying cry and I hear/see it all the time. Now, let's put our money, literally, where our mouths are. If you don't typically go to 5 Points, start. There's so much cool stuff there, you may find yourself a new favorite.

If you're a regular, make the extra effort to try and keep your current favorites around. It would be a shame to lose places like Morra Mia, Italian Kitchen and the House Of Rock Early Bird Cafe.