People in Carbondale said the work can't get done fast enough.
Gary Cerra, owner of Pinky's Family Restaurant in Carbondale, isn't used to an empty grill or empty seats but ever since the sidewalks in front of his Main Street eatery were ripped up, business has been even slower than usual.
"It's taken way too long. People who are hanging on by a thread aren't going to make it. It's just a sad thing," Cerra said.
He added his business was already down about 25 percent because of the recession but the work brought business down even more. "There was holes in the sidewalks for weeks," said Cerra.
The $600,000 streetscape project started in June and was supposed to be done in September.
Mayor Justin Taylor hopes work will be done by Halloween. He said wet weather in the spring and summer is just one reason for the delay.
"Then you have your normal construction issues, where you discover vaults under the sidewalks that even the property owners didn't know they had," said Taylor.
For now,at Great Wall Chinese Restaurant business is also down. Workers there blame the project that's blocked their parking spaces.
"Here on Main Street I don't have parking. It's a big problem," said Ren Xian Tong of Great Wall Restaurant.
"People just don't want to come downtown. They can't find a parking spot, they can't walk up and down the street," said Ed Gillette of Great Wall Restaurant.
Mayor Taylor said phase two of the project will start next spring, which will redo the sidewalks from Salem Avenue north. The mayor said state gaming dollars will pay for that work.
Digg
Twitter
Facebook
StumbleUpon
