“When they were putting in pipes, all of the dirt and rock coming from the walls were washed down the street and blocked up the drainage all the way down the street,” she said.
A $1.6 million construction project to repave Rosemary Street, widen sidewalks, install new LED street lights and replace the gutters was supposed to end Nov. 23. The date was then pushed back to after Thanksgiving, with construction picking up again on Nov. 28.
Several local businesses on and around Rosemary Street have found the construction inconvenient, including Britton.
“Some days it was just awful. Some of my customers could not get in and out of my shop because of the sidewalk construction. Some days I worked and nobody even came,” she said.
Britton said she was given a memo toward the beginning of the summer outlining the construction plan and tentative end date, but it was not helpful because her business was still negatively impacted.
“The sidewalks had such big, large gaps in it. You would have had to be 20 feet tall to jump those sidewalks and get inside,” she said. “The city should accommodate everyone for lost wages.”
Mandey Brown, owner of both Imbibe Taproom and Zog’s Bar on Henderson Street, said she was not given prior notice before the construction started.
“I don’t think that the traffic is being directed very well and parking was blocked on Henderson Street,” she said. “That being said, I’m not angry about it. I get it.”
