Pizzeria owner says Metra construction derailed her business

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - A new Beverly pizzeria is facing very real roadblocks to getting customers in the door and now they want Metra to pony up the dough they lost in sales. 

Peace of Pizza opened last weekend and expected a record turnout. Instead, business was so slow, they had to shut down because no one could get to the restaurant. 

Due to construction, blocked streets and sidewalks are preventing customers from getting to the restaurant, according to Tamar Manasseh, the owner of Peace of pizza on West 95th Street. 

"Metra has completely derailed our business," Manasseh said. "We haven't gotten a customer in eight days, we've lost so much revenue and we've put so much into this establishment just to get it going." 

Manasseh is the founder of Mothers Against Senseless Killings. She opened the now-shuttered restaurant to provide jobs to the youth of Englewood and raise money for her nonprofit. 

Blocked streets and sidewalks forced her to close just four days after opening, cutting into her bottom line she estimates by 10,000 dollars. She wants Metra to reimburse her for losses. 

When Manasseh reached out to Metra, she says she got the runaround. Metra told FOX 32  the crossing replacement only happens every 20 years and they posted signs two weeks before the work to alert the neighborhood. 

But for a business that's been stopped in its tracks, it's not enough. 

"It was not our decision to shut down, they shut us down, we had to do it," Manasseh said. 

Metra sent us a statement apologizing for the impact of the local maintenance. Peace of Pizza is hosting a grand opening once construction ends next Wednesday.