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LEWISTOWN -- There was a collective cheer -- and sigh of relief -- from business owners along Valley Street in Lewistown Tuesday morning when the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced they were removing the detour signage.
PennDOT crews finished paving between Walnut and Oak streets on Tuesday, along with some other miscellaneous paving and painting of pavement markings.
Crews will also complete roadway patching between Oak Street and Ort Valley Road throughout this week, along with pavement and sign installation.
Businesses, like Tactics Firearm Supply at 231 Valley St., Gus's Pizza Shop at 48 Valley St. and M.R. STAX at 233 E. Third St. have struggled to maintain a customer base because of the inconvenience caused by the work. Now, they are waiting for their customers to return.
"We just are not making money because customers aren't coming due to their road construction," Tactics Firearm Supply owner Jarid Breon said in July.
"The road work has absolutely killed us, there is no doubt about that," he added. "We have called our state reps, PennDOT, the borough and to our amazement there is no assistance for these occasions where road construction causes major loss to our business."
Breon heard compensation might be available, but "we have found nothing and that was with our local representative looking into it for us," he added.
He has talked to neighboring businesses, including M.R. STAX, that are suffering. "I didn't think about them, but you can't even get to their business right now," Breon said at the time.
Jonathon Mann, transportation construction manager for PennDOT, sympathized with the Valley Street businesses, but said funding is only available if customers lose complete access to the business.
Mann said PennDOT crews tried to create access to each business by using cones - green for entrances and orange or white for construction zones.
"Throughout the project we had dug out access for every driveway with green cones at the entrances," Mann explained.
Lewistown Borough Manager Kim Zimmerman also wished he could offer assistance to the businesses that were impacted. "I feel bad for them," Zimmerman said. "This was a state project. There's no money available for lost revenues."
Breon believes the financial impact on the Valley Street business will be felt for some time, especially coming off the pandemic. Consumers simply took their business elsewhere instead of experiencing any inconvenience due to the construction.
"Once the road work came - which was actually last summer when it started - it lost us two-thirds of our yearly income," Breon said. "Could anyone live off two-thirds of their income being cut?"
Everyone involved, especially the owners, hope business returns now that the street detours are gone. If consumers see flaggers, which might still be used, the owners hope they will still shop at their stores.
PennDOT expects traffic impacts to be minimal but advises drivers of potential delays. Crews will return in the spring to construct a retaining wall between Central Avenue and Virginia Street and complete milling and paving.
Glenn O. Hawbaker Inc., of State College, served as the contractor for the $5.4 million project.