Businesses React to Fairchild Bridge Opening

Ask a few Kent business owners what they think of the opening and you're going to get some varied responses.

The two-year construction project, which has about another year to go before finished, has encircled several small businesses in the area whose customers have had to face detours and difficulty accessing the business.

Ryan Brannon and Mike Mistur, owners of , , are excited to see the bridge open.

"We were at a dead end," Brannon said, referring to North Water Street's closure at Brady Street a few hundred feet from their front door. "Now that traffic flows freely, we're excited."

At , owner Bob Knapp has watched the bridge take shape just outside his front window.

"I'm happy it's half way done," Knapp said, referring to the year's worth of work left on the project. "It was nerve-wracking (Thursday)."

Workers were building an access ramp to Knapp's business a few hours after the new bridge opened yesterday. Work on Lake Street resulted in a row of orange barrels blocking his driveway that forced customers to drive a few hundred feet down the road and make a U-turn to get to his shop.

However, unlike the owners at Bent Tree, Knapp doesn't believe the opening of the new bridge will lead to an increase in business.

"We've actually had a decent year this year," he said. "Now next year I'm a little nervous for because they're going to tear all this out" he said, referring to the old bridge and roadway right in front of his business.

Other business owners in the midst of the construction are less positive about the work.

Pat Flaningan, owner of , is more critical of the overall project but is happy to see the bridge open "better late than never.

"Needless to say, our access will go up," he said. "And that will be nice."

Flaningan thinks the , North Water and Lake streets is potentially more dangerous to pedestrians and motorists with decreased views from a new, brick street sign and trees planted in an island. And the new design surrounds his pet store with brick pavers instead of a standard sidewalk — something he says would be easier to clear of ice and snow than a brick surface.

Still, he will be happy when the entire project is finished late next year.

"Of course. Nobody likes to live in the middle of chaos," Flaningan said.

Down the street from the pet shop, Lee Atkinson said he watched as traffic on Lake Street backed all the way up past his automotive repair shop to Starr Avenue Thursday afternoon just hours after the new bridge opened.

"Obviously the word spread pretty quick (Thursday) — I don’t know if a lot of people are just coming by for a first look at it," Atkinson said. "My opinion, they just took the problem that was on the west side of the bridge and moved it to the east side.”