'Taking a toll on us already': River Road business owners air concerns over construction project
Business owners on River Road are expressing concerns as a multi-phase construction project by the Louisville Water Company threatens to further complicate an already economically-challenging year.
The project, which will replace a decades-old water line with two new ones, will impact several establishments along the heavily-used thoroughfare for the next two years. Restaurants and other businesses along the road say they're already seeing fewer patrons, making things harder when some are still struggling to recover from damage left behind by severe flooding in mid-February.
KingFish manager Chris Sparrow said construction is already impacting the establishment with only a handful of tables and frequent calls from area residents asking if the business is open. With clean-up still ongoing from the flooding, he worries the project will prevent him from getting back on even footing.
"It's definitely taking a toll on us already," Sparrow said. "The river was not very kind to us. We're going to have to spend money to get that mess cleaned up from the flood, and that money's not going to be generated back to us from the business that we're not going to be getting because of the construction."
Construction will impact River Road, frequently used by commuters to get to and from downtown, and is expected to back up traffic on Interstate 71 and U.S. 42, said John Varanese, owner of River House Restaurant and Raw Bar. The best detour to access open businesses near the construction is Mellwood Avenue to Mockingbird Valley Road, which some could consider too far to travel.
"We've already had a challenging year. In the summertime, we could look at a thousand customers a day," he said. "Now is the time to visit because it's not just the business, it's the livelihood of 120 employees just at this one location, let alone the other businesses on River Road that are going to be affected by this."
Related: River Road closes Monday as Louisville Water Company starts project construction
Sparrow says heading into the peak season for KingFish, he's hopeful for the best but worried that fewer guests will frequent the establishment. After Memorial Day, the restaurant typically hosts a motorcycle bike night on a weekly basis, often drawing in a large turnout with half the parking lot designated for bikes, but Sparrow says some won't want to drive through "a bunch of construction."
Louisville Water Company spokesperson Kathleen Speicher said the organization began working with area businesses prior to construction and is "maintaining a consistent flow of communication with them" throughout the process.
"We have posted numerous signs letting drivers know how to access the restaurants and businesses located in the area. We hope to minimize the traffic impact as much as possible, and we encourage customers to continue visiting those restaurants and businesses," Speicher said. "Louisville Water realizes two years of rolling road closures is daunting, and we are working with our contractor to expedite that timeline if we can do so safely and efficiently."
Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: River Road restaurants concerned over Louisville Water project impact
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