Closures around Shepherd Avenue extended until June

CLOVIS, Calif. (KFSN) -- A months-long road closure in the City of Clovis has been extended.

The closure is from Shepherd Avenue between Fowler Avenue and Sunnyside Avenue and on Sunnyside Avenue between Perrin Road and Shepherd Avenue.

The closures happened in the beginning of January. The roads were supposed to be back open on April 16. But that's been pushed back.

People are left wondering when will the work be finished?

These closures are impacting both businesses and neighbors.

"Within the last six months it has slowed down a lot," said Desiree Rodriguez who has been working at Deli Delicious for three years. "We did have a lot of walk-ins as well as delivery pickups, such as door dash and grub hub, but that's been cutdown in half."

Rodriguez said the street closures around Shepherd Avenue slowed business down.

"We were making $2000 if not plus a day," said Rodriguez. "Now that's been cutdown to a thousand if not less sometimes."

Just a few doors down from Deli Delicious is the Clovis Meat Market. It's a shop that Jeremiah Poytress goes to several times a week. Dealing with the detours is a pain for him.

"So Shepherd being closed kind of just makes it a hassle to go back down to Nees which is a mess," said Poytress.

Lennar is currently building the next phase of its Heritage Grove development on the north side of Shepherd Avenue. All those new homes and people mean more traffic. Once the project is complete, drivers will be able to enjoy wider roads, along with other safety improvements.

Action News reached out to Lennar Homes, the project developer. The company said "Lennar always strives to be a good neighbor - and that includes keeping our neighbors safe. In this case, safety concerns during the removal and installation of utilities required us to close the road completely. We anticipate reopening the road in late June."

On Tuesday, Skyview 30 video shows a muddy mess, construction equipment, and some crews working.

Action News asked City leaders what's the reason behind the delays.

"Our understanding is that the main delay is PG&E," said Thad Avery, an engineer with the City of Clovis. "They had a schedule in January that was supposed to be done and because they didn't get out there and do their work till April, it affected kind of all the other operations."

The City said Lennar is looking to build 588 homes.

In a statement, PG&E said "PG&E understands that the road closures near Shepherd and Sunnyside have been frustrating for our customers that live in and work in that area. We are working closely with the city of Clovis and the home builders developing that region to minimize delays and complete our work safely and as quickly as possible."