Downtown Jacksonville businesses are feeling the impact of construction

JACKSONVILLE, NC (WITN) – An eastern city continues to improve its downtown area, but businesses are starting to get nervous.

In mid-September, the corner of New Bridge Street and Bordeaux Street was under construction and closed. Now, six weeks later, there is a median, a sidewalk and an open road.

Cathy Russell, who works at the Bicycle Gallery, says she thought construction would be finished by now.

“The date keeps getting pushed back, so we’re not sure when our storefront will be closed,” Russell said.

Other downtown businesses say construction was a bit of a hassle at first.

“It was kind of a rough start,” said Southern Roots Salon employee Lauren Schwab. “However, they have made significant progress in recent weeks. I can tell they are working day in and day out to finish the brick and the other side of the road.”

The city of Jacksonville says construction is an 18-month project that began in March 2023. City Manager Josh Ray says the completion date is set for Dec. 31.

“The project came at no cost to us,” Ray said. “We’ve been able to handle several issues that we’ve had, but we expect it to be on time and on budget.”

The next phase recently started on the corner of New Bridge Street and Huerth Street. Russell says since construction began, they’ve seen a difference in foot traffic.

“There was definitely a decline, especially before we had some fences in front of our business,” Russell said. “People didn’t even think we were open, so it definitely hurt the number of people coming through the door.”

Although there is still a long way to go before construction is completed, the companies say they are excited to see the final product.

“We’re looking forward to doing it,” Russell said. “And getting the whole flow of customers back through the doors.”

The city says the goal of the project is to renovate the downtown area.