A41 Bilston Road works: 'Shameful to leave businesses to rot'
"You come to work in the morning and think to yourself, will anyone come into my cafe today?"
The words of Coffee Express owner Abi Hatipoglu, who has seen his takings fall through the floor as a result of a long-running project to replace tram tracks on the A41 Bilston Road.
Outside the front of the place he opened 10 years ago, a large queue of traffic snakes along the road's single open lane.
WATCH: More traders hit out against the A41 roadworks
The rest of the route - traditionally one of the city's busiest - is blocked off, a large mesh fence only partially shielding vast piles of rubble as the the daily soundtrack of pneumatic drills fills the air.
Apart from a few orange jacketed workmen, the streets are empty, as is Mr Hatipoglu's cafe. "It is like this for most of the day, every day," the 39-year-old tells me.
"We get a few people come in early on, but by midday the numbers are getting lower and lower.
"There is nowhere for people to park so after a while regulars stop coming in. They go elsewhere. As for passing trade...well there isn't any."
Takings have been slashed by around 80 per cent over the last five months - a situation which Abi says has thrust his business towards crisis point.
In recent weeks he has been forced to let two staff go, while others have seen their hours drastically reduced.
The Midlands Metro Alliance (MMA) project, which started in June, has taken a heavy toll on the 100 or so businesses that operate on the mile long stretch from the city centre's Bilston Road island to the junction with Cullwick Street.
In recent weeks two have gone bust, namely Smoke Busters and The Grafix Workshop. Several others are on the brink of closure.
A scheme that started with the intention of boosting the local economy has resulted in businesses folding along the way.
Towards the city, Bilston Road is home to several large firms, including Go Outdoors, Carpetright and Evans Halshaw.
While their trade is likely to have suffered as a result of the works, their large scale set ups enable them - in theory, anyway - to take the hit until the road fully reopens.
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The same cannot be said for the smaller, independent firms further down the road.
Traders are understandably angry and are now considering legal action as a last resort.
Aside from the obvious impact on their livelihoods, many of them feel they have been let down by a perceived lack of support from the MMA, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) and Wolverhampton Council.
Sunil Kanda, who has run window tinting service TintCentres on Landport Road for the last 13 years, is one of many business owners to have appealed for financial assistance.
"They are doing this to improve Wolverhampton but it is killing off small businesses along the way," the 38-year-old said, before going on to call for the immediate arrangement of a hardship fund to help struggling traders.
But the idea of any financial support, be it a hardship fund or compensation, has been rejected by TfWM, with bosses instead vowing to help with 'marketing and promotion'.
That last 'offer' comes across as salting the wound as far as the majority of businesses are concerned.
As footfall dwindles the bosses are offering to erect a few A-boards and print off some flyers. "They have made a lot of promises but done virtually nothing to help us," Mr Kanda added.
"They try and make out as if they are concerned about the businesses down here, but the reality is they just want us to suffer in silence."
Public opinion is firmly on the side of the business owners.
Out of more than 650 people who took part in a poll at expressandstar.com, 84 per cent said they deserved some form of compensation.
But launching legal proceedings would be an expensive undertaking for people who are already starring down the barrel of a financial nightmare.
It seems remarkable that this has been allowed to happen in the name of progress and prosperity.
With at least eight weeks left until the work is scheduled to be completed, how many more firms will bite the dust?
None of the parties in charge of the work are speaking directly to the traders affected.
Pledges from TfWM to 'minimise the impact of the works' sound hollow when long established businesses are folding or are on the brink of ruin.
It is shameful that while the traders on Bilston Road prepare to enter a winter of discontent, nothing is being done to address their plight.
