Baltimore businesses lament lost revenue over lack of communication with road closures

Baltimore City Councilwoman Odette Ramos said business owners in Hampden expressed frustration following the Maryland Cycling Classic over the weekend.

Ramos said businesses in her district did not see a boom in business, which was anticipated during the event. In fact, Ramos said she's hearing some Hampden shops lost half to nearly 70% of revenue.

"Partially because of where the route was, because it was like a 'V' and it was really trapped in the neighborhood," Ramos said. "People couldn't get to the businesses and nobody could leave."

Ramos said miscommunication, poor planning, and last-minute changes played a role in Saturday's confusion.

"I'm happy to have the entire race here," Ramos said. "I just think we need to do it in a way that everybody's involved and make sure everybody has the maximum impact they can to benefit the city."

Business impact

Nick Serio, the owner of Coastal Canyon Seafood in Annapolis, said he normally takes his fresh seafood products to Baltimore to sell at the Fells Point Market and other farmers' markets in the area. 

Serio said he and other vendors received a last-minute notice about road closures for the Maryland Cycling Classic.

"That changes were still being made to the route and the street closure operation up until the last second," he said.

Terry Hasseltine, president of the Sport and Entertainment Corporation of Maryland, says they did their best to get the information about road closures out promptly. However, Serio said they were informed of the closure days before the event.

Serio said the market closure cost him thousands of dollars.

"We lost a quarter of our weekend sales in profit," Serio said.

WJZ reached out to Baltimore City DOT to see when the agency notified businesses about the road closures. We are still waiting to hear back.