Jason Robinson answered a question about how construction on Burlington’s Main Street has affected his business by pointing to the sales floor of his photography store.

“Can you tell me if there’s anything going on here right now?” Robinson asked. “There is no business. We broke in. We have nine people on the payroll and funds are running low.”

LeZot Camera has been in business since 1978 and occupied a second-floor space on Church Street for many years before moving to a more visible location on Main Street seven years ago. Robinson said he took over the company “several decades ago.”

Main Street was closed most of the year as a revitalization plan called the Great Streets Main Street Project began in February. The redesign plans include wider sidewalks, a tree belt, protected bike paths, parallel parking, public art and seating, and perhaps most disturbingly, a new sewer system and improved stormwater management that will require deep digging underground. Excavators line the road with their powerful digging arms stretched out over craters containing new sewer lines.