By Rachel Dovey.

Torn-up streets and orange-vested workers may signal infrastructure progress and “Your Tax Dollars at Work,” but for nearby businesses, they can also signal customers — and revenues — lost.

People from Montreal to Minnesota have worked on creative solutions to the business lull that major construction projects can cause in a city: art exhibits to lure foot traffic, parklets, giant puppets. In San Francisco, where Central Subway construction is said to be disrupting a number of Chinatown businesses, Supervisor Aaron Peskin has a similar, less colorful but more direct proposal: cash.

Peskin’s proposal centers on Chinatown but affects the entire city, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. It would create an “impact zone” around Stockton Street, offering financial assistance to businesses within a given perimeter.

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Read the full story at Next City.