Auckland Transport (AT) has backed down on plans to remove car parks on Karangahape Road after a dressing down from Mayor Wayne Brown.
The council-controlled organisation said it recognises consultation with locals should have been better and has apologised.
David Yeates has run the Expert Shoe Repair shop on Karangahape Rd for more than 25 years.
"It's taken many years to build up our customers," he told Newshub.
Those customers often rely on parking directly outside, with parking available from 10am to 3pm.
During peak hours, it becomes a bus lane.
"It actually worked OK," Yeates said.
"We had customers coming in. They got used to it."
But then signs went up to signal, from next week, there would be no more on-street parking, 7 days a week.
"If you take the car parks away and there's nowhere for them to park, even drop off, then businesses are going to suffer," said Yeates.
Auckland Transport initially said the changes were needed to make way for 100 additional bus services, including the new Western Express.
In total, there will be 831 weekday bus trips travelling along Karangahape Rd from next week.
But Open Coffee café owner Christy Tennent is one of many business owners annoyed they weren't properly consulted.
"Car parks and loading zones are really important for our diverse business community here," she told Newshub.
"There's a lot of pick up and drop off businesses."
Brown ordered a review on Thursday.
"Well, they've kind of admitted they've stuffed up and I was a bit annoyed about that," he said.
And, on Thursday afternoon, AT said after strong feedback from local businesses, it would be reinstating the car park spaces.
AT added its "engagement with Karangahape Rd businesses should have been better and we apologise".
The agency is preparing for the 2025 launch of the City Rail Link, which includes a new train station for the area, named Karanga-a-Hape Station.
Demand for public transport into the city centre of Tāmaki Makaurau is set to more than double by 2038.
The Mayor accepts that but wants council-controlled organisations to communicate plans better.
"This will be kind of like a wake-up call," Brown said.
