CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- There's now another delay for the Charlotte Area Transit Gold Line project. This one is due to the Queen City hosting the Republican National Convention in 2020.

• The RNC will extend a months-long shutdown of the gold line in 2020.
• Construction is expected to be done by April 2020, but testing will keep it closed for months.
• Construction in the area will wrap by that time as well, returning business accesses to normal. 

For businesses in Plaza Midwood and Elizabeth, this is more bad news. Andrea Sweet, co-owner of Royal Gardens, says the this past Christmas was their worst financially. 

"I only thought this was supposed to be a year. I didn't think was going to be forever," she said. 

By April 2020, CATS was planning to have construction complete on the 10-mile long streetcar system and be ready to move to the grueling 4-to-6 months long testing phase.

"A lot of it lies on the contract because they've made mistake after mistake and its unforgivable, but also with the city for not doing something quicker to motivate the contractor to do their job properly or replace that contractor," Chris Mullis, general manager of Hawthorne's New York Pizza and Bar said.

“When the RNC happens, it will prevent us from doing that testing but that will be a issue that we will have to deal with,” explained CATS CEO John Lewis.

Lewis told city council members Monday night during their strategy session CATS will have to cease all work for 30-to-90 days through the summer of 2020.

“We will commence with testing as soon as the convention is over and we're allowed back in to the area under homeland security,” Lewis said.

CATS officials are hoping the Federal Transit Administration doesn't hand down a penalty for the project that's received federal funds and is on a tight timeline. “We are looking for and have requested a 6-month extension in that,” Lewis said. He added that it's not clear when exactly the FTA will make a decision on that extension request but that he expects it within the next quarter.

The RNC 2020 “delay” to the project is only one part of the months-long shut of the gold line. As Lewis explained, “we're gonna raise the platforms so that there is level boarding just like you have on the blue line.” That work alone is expected to take at least 6 months. “At the time that we shut down for station renovation it will be closed thru the opening of the gold line.” That's now not expected to happen until some time in the spring of 2021, a year later than originally planned.

City councilwoman Lawana Mayfield who represents district-3 (D) asked Lewis, “What potentially can happen, worst case scenario, if the extension is denied?”

She expressed concern about the potential dollar figure associated with this latest push back. “Who is responsible for the cost that will need to be paid for a delay on the extension?”

While it's another push back for what seems like a chronically delayed project, Lewis was confident it's a bump in the road to better public transportation options. “This is the first time in the history of the FTA that we've had a federally-funded project in the city during construction that has hosted national convention, so it's new for us and it's new for the feds.”

John Lewis made it clear that construction will wrap on time, some time in April of 2020. While they won’t be able to run any trains on the gold line during the time of the platform upgrades and RNC, residents and businesses will regain normal access to areas that have been under construction for several years.