Cascade Road business owners plead for relief as multi‑year construction restricts access

Dozens of Cascade Heights business owners and residents told the Atlanta City Council on Aug. 5 that the city’s multi-year Complete Streets construction along Cascade Road has severely reduced foot and vehicle access and left small, local businesses struggling to survive.

Owners and community leaders described reduced sales, lost customers and rising costs attributed to repeated detours, slow or intermittent work and a lack of a meaningful city-funded recovery program. Several business operators said they had been operating at a loss for months and urged the council and the mayor’s office to provide emergency grant funding and a transparent completion timeline.

Trinket Lewis, owner of More Life Juice Co., described a steep revenue decline and the toll on staff. “Traffic outside More Life has gone from a steady flow ... to just a trickle. Sometimes one or two cars an hour,” Lewis said. She told the council that the business, which opened in early 2022, has fallen from an average of 900 orders a month to about 380. “We are at the end of the rope,” she said.

Restaurant owner Trent Floyd, who owns JR Crickets at 2348 Cascade Road, said he invested more than $1 million in property and operations and then saw “the major access point near I‑285” remain closed for more than two years. “We are operating in survival mode,” Floyd said, and asked the city for a realistic timeline and financial support.

Other speakers included Angela Ingram of Cafe Bartique and Courtney Rucker of Natalie Bianca. Both said they opened their businesses to serve the neighborhood, invested their life savings and have seen walk‑in traffic and quick‑stop visits decline. “We were offered a loan — why would we take on a loan when we are already in debt?” Ingram said, urging the council to provide grants rather than loans.

Community advocate Rodney Mullins called the construction situation an “emergency,” saying the city’s response to infrastructure problems has been uneven and arguing Cascade businesses deserve the same swift help given to other parts of the city. “They only struggled for four days” in another neighborhood and received rapid relief, Mullins said; Cascade businesses have faced two years of disruption.

Council members acknowledged the complaints, thanked speakers for coming, and several—most prominently Council member Marcy Collier Overstreet—said they were working with the mayor’s office and Atlanta Department of Transportation staff to seek accelerated schedules and to assemble recovery tools. Council members noted the city has used business recovery funds in previous infrastructure crises, and advocates said the same approach should apply to Cascade.

Speakers asked for three concrete outcomes: (1) a clear, published completion schedule for the Complete Streets work; (2) emergency grant funding or other non‑debt relief to cover lost revenue and operating costs; and (3) regular, transparent communications from the city on progress and access plans. The council did not vote on a funding package during the meeting; several members said they would press the mayor’s office and relevant departments to produce options for recovery funding and an updated schedule.

The public comments were substantial, with multiple business owners, residents and clergy speaking in support of immediate relief and a commitment to equitable treatment of Southwest Atlanta business districts.