by Bradley Parsons
Staff Writer
All along Hendricks Avenue the question is the same: When will it end?
When will the new sidewalks be unwrapped from the orange plastic netting? When will the potholes be smoothed over with asphalt? When will the heavy machinery leave and the commuter traffic return? When will the City’s $7 million renovation of the road, scheduled to be done before the Super Bowl, be finished?
Those have been the questions on the minds of area proprietors since shortly after the project started in February 2005, about a month after the original scheduled completion date. The project was supposed to take a year to finish, but planners now expect the project to wrap up Dec. 5.
The project’s original schedule was unrealistic, said Dave Schneider, who’s managing the project for the City’s Public Works Department. To stay on schedule would have driven up prices significantly, he said. As a result, the schedule was pushed to 18 months. The project also started late because Mayor John Peyton didn’t want the construction to clutter one of the Southbank’s main arteries during the Super Bowl.
Once work began, it proceeded pretty much on schedule, said Schneider. The only significant delay came when construction crews first dug up Hendricks to discover thousands of buried railroad ties that are part of a forgotten trolley network. Each of the ties had to be cut from the ground using a chainsaw. The project is 44 percent done, said Schneider.
Relief might come earlier for businesses at Hendricks’ north end, near the I-95 overpass. Proprietors there have been told by contractors that new sidewalks, gutters and street lights will be finished by the end of January. That work will progress south on Hendricks before contractors return to repave the street.
“My part should be done this month,” said Kathy Lee, owner of the Chai House on Hendricks’ north end. “They told me the sidewalks and curbs should be done by the end of January and they’re putting the lamp posts in right now.”
Not content to wait for updates from the City, Lee gathered her own intelligence. She traded coffee, tea, biscuits and cookies for information from workers and their foreman. She said the workers have been accommodative, scheduling high-impact work around planned events and busy hours. But she suspects her business has been hurt badly by the construction. Lee opened in October while work was underway.
“People are so focused on what’s going on on the road, avoiding the pot holes, that I don’t think they even notice the businesses,” she said. “I know a lot of people are avoiding the area completely. I hope they come back.”
Schneider said work on the project’s north end should be largely finished by mid-February. Only landscaping work and road resurfacing will remain.
Several proprietors complained that sidewalk construction blocked off the only entrance to their businesses, making them inaccessible. Simon’s Wine Bar stopped its year-old lunch business after construction blocked off both entrances during lunch hours.
At the project’s southern boundary, Earl Hunter, manager of Orben’s Camera at the corner of Hendricks and Landon avenues, said his business hasn’t suffered as much as some of his counterparts. As the only camera shop in the area, Orben’s has built up a loyal customer base.
“We haven’t been hurt as bad, I don’t think, because we’re kind of a destination for people who can’t find our products anywhere else,” he said.
Orben’s on-site parking has also helped. The shop has an 11-space lot in the back, so the loss of on-street parking eliminated by the project hasn’t hurt, said Hunter. The renovation eliminates on-street parking in favor of bike lanes, which planners say will make the area safer and more walkable.
The City is also leasing a 40-space lot, open to the public, from nearby Swaim United Methodist Church.
Hunter has seen the project deadline pushed back enough that he’s skeptical of the current late 2006 date. He said JEA hasn’t yet started utility work on his business. Schneider said the utility work started at Hendricks’ north end and is working its way south.