Streetscape Work Has Downtown Wheeling Businesses in Survival Mode

Derek Redd

WHEELING -- The Downtown Streetscape Project in Wheeling is in full swing, and while downtown business owners have continued to voice support for the ultimate outcome of the $32 million investment, the pains of progress are beginning to turn unwavering patience into unavoidable frustration.

A number of downtown businesses that have been affected by the Streetscape work are taking a significant hit simply because the overwhelming scope of the construction is making it difficult for customers to find parking or even find a way to reach certain businesses.

Much of the work along Main Street in the heart of the friendly city has been tearing out and replacing sidewalks on both sides of the street. Orange barrels, sprawling holes in the ground and closed sections of sidewalk can be seen from the entrance to the city off of the Fort Henry Bridge all the way through town to 16th Street at Wheeling Creek. The bumpy ride along Main Street is pretty much down to one single lane with no parking on either side.

On Market Street, the block between 12th and 14th streets has been closed for several weeks as crews continue to work on the storm sewer installation in that section of town. This past week, another block of Market Street was closed as the installation continues to move north. According to the West Virginia Division of Highways, which is heading the Streetscape project, the block of Market Street between 11th and 12th streets will remain closed through February.

The latest closure seemed to be the icing on the cake for downtown businesses that have already been struggling to stay afloat through the marathon construction period which, overall, promises to last through the end of next year.

In many cases, downtown business owners said, it has come to the point where people are avoiding downtown Wheeling because of the sprawling construction zone, and they're simply going elsewhere with their business.

"People have figured out how to live without going into downtown Wheeling," said Johnny Haught, owner of Ohio Valley MMA, which is located in the Plaza on Market. "I didn't know the road by Market Plaza was going to be closed until the day it happened. It's basically a cul-de-sac now, and I've had to guide people through all of the detours to get to us."

The state's construction zone for the Streetscape and the new road closure ends at 11th Street. However, 11th Street is also closed because it serves as a staging area for another major downtown construction site - the multimillion dollar construction of the new Market Street Parking Garage.

Since the new closure this past week, access to the plaza and to the businesses across the street relies on a detour from Chapline Street down a narrow one-lane, one-way alley that leads to Market Street. From there, motorists have been instructed to bypass "Local Traffic Only" barriers and go south on what is usually a one-way northbound section of Market Street, then do a U-turn and park to access businesses like those in the plaza, Tito's Sloppy Doggs, Taqueria 304, Panda Chinese Kitchen and other businesses.

On its social media pages, Taqueria 304 has had to post the equivalent of a treasure map motorists need to take in order to find them.

Communication between the project leadership and the local business and property owners has not been optimal, according to some of those affected the most.

Although the Streetscape project is a WVDOH endeavor that is being performed by state crews alongside crews from the general contractor Triton Construction of St. Albans, and at times its subcontractors, many impacted business owners have said the city of Wheeling should step in and at least keep impacted businesses in the loop when the state and the contractor doesn't.

"It's really frustrating that the city hasn't communicated with anybody," said Dave McFarland of Mmm...Popcorn, located in the Market on Plaza. "I can only speak about myself, but I've not heard from the city the word 'boo' since the start on what the schedule is, what the plan is. It just sort of shows up and that's really frustrating.

"I know the talking point is, 'it's not us, it's the state,'" he added, "but you keep saying its going to be great when it's done. And you're going to take credit for it. So you should be able to help those businesses out. It's not the city's responsibility for my business to succeed or fail. That's me. But this is happening in your city. And they're just doing a terrible job of communicating what's going on, or at least coming around and saying, 'hey, we appreciate you, stay with us.'"

Derek Redd

Both McFarland and Haught noted that because people have gotten into a new routine of avoiding downtown because of the construction, there's no guarantee that everyone is going to simply flock back to Wheeling once the sidewalks and streets are finally fixed. Tara Kobasko, who just recently opened up the Belgian Waffle Shop on Market Street this fall, agreed.

"What's good about having beautiful streets when no one is in the habit of going downtown?" Kobasko asked. "It's been especially hard for me because we're new. I don't have extra money for marketing right now. Every day, I'm always trying to promote our business on social media and through word of mouth. I'm doing everything we can do, but at the end of the day, people don't want to deal with this mess and navigate the streets like this."

The Belgian Waffle Shop is located in the block of Market Street between 12th and 14th streets, which closed to the public around the same time as their grand opening. It has been a struggle to direct people to the new business.

"I think the city could be more helpful," Kobasko said. "Just speaking for myself - I've heard nothing about what's happening, when it might be reopening - nothing. Nobody reached out."

Haught said local business owners have been working to bring people back to downtown Wheeling for the past 50 years. Many business owners agreed that it's going to be an uphill battle to regain regular customers even after the project is completed.

"They've found other places," McFarland said of the regular downtown customers. "So now you have to change habits when this is all done for people to come back. It is not going to be instant. And that's gonna be a habit that you gotta get them to break. Once that final orange cone is gone, it's not going to be a floodgate. It will take years to build back people's trust in going to downtown Wheeling."

McFarland said that unfortunately, the Christmas season is the "make or break" time for Mmm Popcorn.

"If we don't do well on Christmas, there's no way we survive January," McFarland said.

MMM Popcorn is looking at moving more toward online sales and is working through Amazon for that, but the process in getting that started will push the start into January.

Officials from the WVDOH were unable to be reached this week for an update on the Streetscape project.

Wheeling city officials are planning to address the issue during their next meeting. Members of the Development Committee of Council are scheduled to discuss the impact that the Streetscape project is having on local businesses at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday just prior to the regular city council meeting at 5:30 p.m. in the City-County Building.

"City-wise, they have the bully pulpit," McFarland said. "They should be out in all the city social media posts, all the council members' social media posts. They should focus on a business, talk about that it's still open. They should be the ones putting the maps up how to get here. I mean, it's free. It costs the city nothing to do social media posts on a daily, regular basis."

Kurte Zende, president of the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce, said the biggest concern that impacted member businesses have expressed has been with the lack of parking near their locations because of the construction zones.

"It's a very, very difficult situation," Zende said. "It's the price of progress, but it really has put a burden on the downtown area of the city."

Zende said the Chamber officials have met with city leaders to discuss ideas about how to alleviate some of the burden from the construction, from addressing parking issues to backing incentives to continue to support downtown businesses that are impacted by the situation.

"We all need to make an effort to eat out and stop by these businesses," Zende said. "Everyone who works downtown - we need to encourage them to not bring a lunch one day a week and make it a point to go support these businesses whenever we can."

Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott noted that the city is working on a proposal to help struggling businesses.

"Earlier this week I asked our city manager to consider one or more incentives to provide assistance to those businesses most impacted by this project," Elliott said. "We will be discussing these options in the Development Committee before our next council meeting on Dec. 5."

The mayor noted that while the detours, the orange barrels and the parking issues exist, it is still possible to continue coming downtown and patronizing the local businesses - and it is vitally important to continue doing so.

"With significant work taking place both on Main and Market streets, there is no doubt that the Streetscape project has now entered the phase of maximum impact on downtown commerce," Elliott said. "And this has certainly led to the perception that it is impossible to get anywhere downtown, which, in turn, is causing local residents to avoid patronizing our downtown retail and restaurant establishments."

This is causing many of these businesses to see significant revenue drops from prior years, the mayor said.

"As a community, we need to rally to their support," he stressed. "If you are able-bodied, the truth is that getting around downtown is only marginally more difficult than it was before this project. It may take five extra minutes of driving and a few extra steps when you find parking, but helping our downtown retail business survive this transformative project is more than worth it."

Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron said the Market Street Garage project - which is a city-led construction project - is ongoing and will require the closure of that adjacent portion of 11th Street through its completion.

"We have to disassemble the big crane in two weeks for the Streetscape project to work where the crane is now and replace it with a very large mobile crane," Herron said, noting that the storm system from the new parking garage and the new storm sewer being installed on Market Street will require extensive excavation there.

"I can't speak for DOH, but we are in discussions regarding once the sidewalks are done on Main Street that (the street) could then be paved, possibly in the spring or early summer," Herron said. "Based on the progress on Main Street thus far, which has been good, those discussions are ongoing."

(Managing Editor Derek Redd contributed to this story)