By MORGAN ADDERLEY

Tribune Staff Reporter

madderley@tribunemedia.net

BUSINESSES near Blake Road are concerned about the impact the upcoming six-month long water and road improvement work will have on their establishments.

The work is set to begin this Monday. In interviews with The Tribune yesterday, some proprietors and employees expressed dismay at the length of time the work is expected to take. They also took issue with the fact that it is expected to occur during "peak" hours and questioned how this would impact traffic flow in the area.

According to a Ministry of Public Works and Water and Sewerage Corporation notice, the work will be conducted on West Bay Street between Blake Road and the Old Fort Bay roundabout. Starting November 12 and expected to last for six months, it will occur between the hours of 9.30am - 4.30pm and 7pm - 6am.

"The motoring public is advised to minimise use of this area during this period if possible as there will be detours and road closures," the notice said. "Provisions will be made to accommodate all necessary traffic during the duration of the work."

Loretta Thomas is creative director at Cafe Channing Noelle, a coffee and tea boutique located in Caves Village on West Bay Street and Blake Road. Yesterday, Mrs Thomas told The Tribune the cafe is "certainly concerned" about the project's impact, particularly on the water supply.

"We are certainly concerned," she said. "It would absolutely and dramatically impact our business. And hopefully all efforts are being made to minimise disrupting businesses and residents in the area.

"A lot of what we do really depends on our water supply, because we are a sheik coffee boutique," Mrs Thomas continued. "And it will certainly negatively impact our business should we not have access to water."

Mrs Thomas also expressed concern about road blockage. "It's not only the water but the road access for our clients. We can always bring in bottled water however our clients would have to have access to our business. So that, of course, is a concern."

Regarding the hours during which the work is expected to occur, Mrs Thomas said "of course" she is concerned.

"They're peak hours. They're hours for businesses, 9.30 in the morning until 4.30 in the afternoon. And then after 7pm, it would definitely affect residents, because most people return to their homes after 5.30. So, let's hope they are thoughtful and deliberate in their planning so it does not adversely affect the operations of businesses in the area," she added.

Alyssa McCombe, operations manager at Windermere West, a day spa and salon in Caves Village, highlighted the impact the work will have on businesses that are dependent on appointments.

Mrs McCombe told The Tribune she is "absolutely" concurred about the project, as "this business particularly works on a time frame, works by appointment."

"And obviously there are very few alternative routes for Blake Road. So that is bound to cause us some trouble, especially going into the busy season (Christmas time)."

Regarding the current state of the area, Mrs McCombe said: "The road could use improvement, yeah. It's a short road, I don't think it causes a lot of problems, but it definitely does need to be improved."

However, she also noted the daytime work will occur during "peak hours" for the salon, adding the six-month time frame is "a very long time".

"Probably after the first month or two people would learn to detour around it, but through the Christmas season it's (going to) be a big problem for our scheduled appointment time."

While Nina Ray, vice-president of customer service at Pure H2O, also expressed concern about how the project will affect businesses and residents, she described herself as being "almost elated" that the area will be improved.

Ms Ray said she was informed about the roadwork via email. "I was (happier) about the fact that they were going to be doing it on the West Bay Street because it's terrible," she told the Tribune. "It's absolutely terrible. I've called numerous times about having the roads patched up there because people were banging up their…vehicles, including myself. They said it was going to be an inconvenience, I know it will be, but I'm almost elated."

However, Ms Ray did express concern about the hours of the work. Regarding the evening hours in particular, Ms Ray said, "I can't imagine what would be a good time because it's a very active street."

Cameron Roach, proprietor of Wildfire, a restaurant located in the Old Fort Bay Centre, also worried about the evening work in his interview with The Tribune.

"Seven pm is pretty much our prime dinner hour, so that's (going to) slow down dinner flow," Mr Roach said. "Our other big prime time is right around lunchtime…But our evenings, we're worried about a lot. That's when we have the most amount of traffic in the whole plaza in general. So, it's (going to) affect us, I'm sure."

Regarding the length of time of the project, Mr Roach said: "That's half a year. Six months is a long time. It's not a couple of days or even couple of weeks. That's half a year that we could be affected. People just won't even bother to come in this direction, they're going to get sick and tired of it after trying to come west…(after) a couple weeks or months they give up."

In their notice, the ministry and WSC extended apologies for the "temporary inconvenience to the public during this period" as they endeavour to "improve the roadway system island wide."

For more information during the project, the public is advised to contact the ministry at 322-4830/1 or publicworks@bahamas.gov.bs.