FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – The South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) still has work to do on a road-widening project on South Cashua Drive, but business owners said it’s costing them money.

The project will widen Second Loop to Celebration Boulevard by making it four lanes with a middle turn lane, and also widen Celebration Boulevard to Knollwood by making that a two-lane road with a middle turn lane as well.

SCDOT Resident Construction Engineer, Philip Bethea, said construction on the project began two years ago on Aug. 2016.

“It’s to ease congestion for all the traffic,” said Bethea. “The traffic on Cashua is pretty heavy, and this way people will be able to go into the median to turn into the different businesses without holding up traffic going through.”

John Capotosti has owned Celebration Laundry for two years, and told News13 he’s lost approximately two thousand dollars a week since the project started.

“Some of the issues we’ve seen is anywhere from a 30 to 50 percent decline in business since the project started,” Capotosti said. “That’s pretty frustrating, and it’s irritating of course,” he continued. ” I mean, I know the people who run the project, but if they were losing, you know, 50 percent of their income every week they would probably be pretty irritable.”

Capotosti said he’d like to see the contractors work on the project at night when there is less traffic.

“It would be a little bit safer, probably, compared to rush hour traffic, and things like that,” he said. “It would probably bring a swifter end to the project which would be very nice for business owners, and for commuters alike.”

However, Bethea said working at night is not an option for the construction workers.

“Because all of the people that live on Cashua, all the different neighborhoods and residences,” Bethea explained. “The construction work would cause too much noise to be done at night.”

Capotosti said he didn’t have an issue with the project itself, but rather with the lack of effort he has seen from the contractors.

“I don’t have to be an engineer to tell you it doesn’t take three years to do three miles of road, [and] that’s what’s frustrating is the duration of the project,” he said.

Bethea said the road-widening project is on track for it’s original completion date which is Oct. 31, 2019.