An open letter to Gov. Raimondo from Bristol business owners

Posted 5/16/19

Dear Gov. Raimondo:

The small business owners of Historic Downtown Bristol have recently been dismayed to discover a plan to close the main artery for traffic into our area during our peak …

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An open letter to Gov. Raimondo from Bristol business owners

Posted

Dear Gov. Raimondo:

The small business owners of Historic Downtown Bristol have recently been dismayed to discover a plan to close the main artery for traffic into our area during our peak months, July and August, 2020. The Silver Creek Bridge Replacement project is necessary and overdue, and we applaud the efforts of your administration to tackle long neglected infrastructure all over the state.

However, the timing simply could not be worse from our point of view. Possibly, it means the end for several businesses in our town. Route 114 literally pours people down to our corner of Bristol all summer long. On a busy summer afternoon, Colt State Park empties directly into downtown.

A cumbersome detour — and it will be cumbersome — will simply deter hundreds of people from bothering to turn south out of the park. Rather they will head back up to Providence and points north. The same goes for residents of the East Bay who already loathe traveling on Metacom Avenue and will avoid it if Route 114 is diverted there during the summer.

Some of us have met with DOT officials and town officials, and we have been in touch with your office. We have been made aware of the complexity of this particular project — small though it may seem — and we are not disputing that there are many factors that go into such a decision.

What we as business owners are trying to emphasize is that the proportional damage of closing the bridge for those particular months is potentially devastating. We rely heavily on that business to make it through the winter. The gravy in July is our lifeline in February.

The Town of Bristol and DOT are of the opinion that a closure in July and August will be better for a number of reasons: dependable weather; National Grid imperatives regarding gas lines; school bus routes; the Fourth of July parade; apparent worries about egress in a mass incident during school session.

You will note that none of those factors uses the word “business.” With all due respect, everyone else’s risk factors are our actual factors. This is not a theoretical risk, for us but an actual event.

How can we honestly hire summer staff in May and June without letting them know they might be out of a job in July? Who is going to accept a job under those circumstances? How do we keep year-round tipped staff through the summer of 2020 when they know what is coming? Not to mention the real blow to all their personal finances.

These factors come to our minds because we are business owners. They probably do not occur to most people. But no one asked us until it was too late.

The project is estimated to take 6 to 8 weeks, if there are no unforeseen circumstances. DOT needs to factor in a buffer of several weeks between the project and cold weather when National Grid must be back on full gas service for downtown heating requirements (around Nov. 15).

Can the businesses count on your support for a start date during August, allowing us to reap the benefits of July, at least? It seems like a reasonable ask and we have yet to hear of a reason that overwhelmingly defeats its logic.

Jen Cavallaro, The Beehive Café

Jesse James, Le Central

Joe Caron, Caron’s Jewelry

Alayne White, Alayne White Spa

Lisa  Bracken, Angelina’s

Beth and Peter Gresche, Grasmere

Stephan and Juli Brigidi, Bristol Workshops in Photography

Jackie Carol, Jackie’s Loft

Richie Corrente, Portside Tavern

Al Quito, Quito’s

Sai Viswanath, De Wolf Tavern

Elser Ramirez, Bar 31

Lisa Paulino, Pannoni’s

Linda Arruda, Paper, Packaging and Panache

Gerry Liberatos, Marianthy Barakos,  The Beach House, Thames Waterside Bar and Grill

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Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.