Not a nice view

Loss of customers because an excavator is parked in front of the door

The excavator has been parked directly in front of the café entrance since Thursday(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

An excavator parked directly in front of Café Pierre in Salzburg's Maxglaner Hauptstraße has been scaring off customers since Thursday. Pleas from the owner to move the heavy construction machine even just a few meters from the café entrance have so far gone unheeded.

The shiny glazed cakes in the display case of Café Pierre in Maxglaner Hauptstraße are desperately waiting to be eaten this weekend. "Normally there are about 15 people in our patisserie on Saturday mornings. Today there's no one there," pastry shop owner Márta Borbíró tells the "Krone" during an inspection of the premises.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

You don't have to look far to find the reason for the lack of guests: An excavator has been parked right in front of the small store since Thursday afternoon. "It's mainly the walk-in customers who think we're closed. That means we're missing around 80 percent of our usual weekend customers," says Borbíró.

(Bild: Tschepp Markus)

The excavator was supposed to be removed on Friday and parked somewhere else, the café owner was promised. However, this did not happen. Neither the City of Salzburg nor Salzburg AG, which is building there, have felt obliged to do anything. Several phone calls and emails asking them to move the heavy construction equipment a few meters have so far come to nothing.

Construction work will continue until the end of November
The work on the pipeline network in the Maxglaner Hauptstraße area, which is being carried out in two phases, is scheduled to continue until the end of November this year. During the construction work, Maxglaner Hauptstraße will be closed to private traffic. "If you are a customer at our café, you can still drive straight in by car. This is because the residents' regulation applies," says Márta Borbíró.