After weeks of enduring dust, noise and one-way traffic, business owners along East Burlington Street in Riverside can expect construction to end as early as tomorrow, according to Village Manager Peter Scalera.
On Monday, work popped into an even higher gear as crews race to finish installing a new water main along the village’s downtown business corridor. Workers poured the new concrete curbs and gutters and in following days were expected to repair the street surface and restore parkway areas.
“The goal is for them to be completely done and out of Burlington by May 27,” said Scalera Monday afternoon.
The roadway surface will be patched up, said Scalera but not completely resurfaced. “Wherever there are cuts, it’s going to be repaired,” Scalera said. “The street is not up for replacement, but we’re looking at moving it up.”
The Burlington Street water main was scheduled for replacement later in the year, said Scalera, but a plan to re-landscape the downtown flower beds on May 29, prompted the work to be moved up.
Although minor work began in early April, things really heated up mid-month when Burlington Street was made one way heading west, making it difficult to access the shopping area.
Officials opened up the street to two-way traffic for a time in early May, but in the past two weeks, construction has again forced one-way traffic down Burlington. The lack of access and parking has made it tough on several businesses on the street.
According to Pat Vacha, owner of Vacha Florist at 23 E. Burlington, “business is definitely down. People can’t get around.”
“The other thing is delivery. Getting in and out of the parking is hard, and most of our business is delivery,” Vacha said.
Farther east at 29 E. Burlington, construction bit into business at Aunt Diana’s Candy Makers last weekend during the Riverside Arts Fair. Last year, when the fair was held on Burlington Street, said manager Patty Miglore, the store served 400 customers. This year, she said, it was down to 160.
“I know they’re working hard, and I’ve got no problems with getting the new water main, but it’s been bad. Thank God it was after Easter and not before.”
At Grumpy’s Café, 35 E. Burlington, “sales are down 80 percent” according to the store’s manager, Kimberly Palka.
“Our first customers might come in at 8 o’clock,” Palka said. “And we open at 6. … A couple of days we closed at 1 p.m. for lack of customers.”
David Moreau, the owner of Grumpy’s, perhaps best known for its ice cream, remarked, “We consider it kind of like winter.”
The street’s largest business, Riverside Foods at 48 E. Burlington, has also felt the pinch, though owner Stephanie Boutsikakis played down the inconvenience.
“We’re just doing the best we can,” she said. “Our parking lot’s been open the whole time, but, yes, access has been a problem.”
Boutsikakis praised Scalera for his efforts in keeping the work moving forward and close to schedule. The project was supposed to have been completed May 21, but several days of wet weather put a crimp in those plans.
“He’s been really good about updating us and walking the streets and making it as smooth as possible,” Boutsikakis said.
Scalera was also praised by Scott Zimmer, owner of The Chew Chew restaurant at 33 E. Burlington.
“Peter’s been walking the street daily, working with the guys to move this along,” Zimmer said. “It appears Peter truly has what’s best for the business district in his mind.”
Zimmer said it was tough to gauge just what kind of an effect construction has had on his business, since he opened at the location only a year ago. He also was helped out by having several large private events booked, although he admits “it’s been a challenge to find places to park.”
Scalera said business owners have been “very patient and cooperative throughout the whole process.”
“The last thing you want to be doing is putting up additional impediments to businesses,” Scalera said.