Dozens of businesses along Fulton Street are at odds with their own business improvement district over a city plan to add bus-only lanes.

Merchants from the busy street came together Tuesday, trying to figure out how to make their voices heard when it comes to issues like bus lanes that directly impact them.

The city says the new, bus-only lanes will speed up service for thousands of riders who take the B25 and B26 lines. But the shopkeepers who work nearby claim it makes it harder to coordinate deliveries and ultimately drives away customers.

Ralph Jawad, a hardware store owner, says in the past, delivery workers would come every day and unload merchandise. Now they'll only come twice a week and they often don't want to leave their trucks for fear of getting ticketed in a bus-only lane.

A spokesperson for the local BID says they have been advocating for small businesses during the entire process, limiting the hours of bus-only lanes to help. But shopkeepers say they've been kept in the dark and feel like they don't have a voice.

Bus-only lane hours along Fulton Street between Grand and Lafayette streets are 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday for the north side of the street and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday for the south side.