Apr 4, 2024 By Amy Fauth 5 min read

Four months into a yearlong reconstruction of the Crawford Avenue bridge in Connellsville, some business owners are struggling, while others say it’s business as usual.

The 65-year-old McCray Robb Bridge that carries Route 711 over the Youghiogheny River closed to traffic back in January essentially splitting Connellsville in half with businesses on both sides of the river unsure just how it would impact their livelihoods.

One owner’s longtime Connellsville store is inside the blocked off section of Crawford Avenue on the east side, literally in the shadow of the bridge project. The owner said her patience is wearing thin.

“I’m in a precarious position,” said Denise Friel, who has owned Atkins Music Center for over 30 years and worked there for 55 years. “It’s not a good circumstance.”

Friel has turned to social media to vent a lot of her frustration and to let her customers know that although the street in front of her business is blocked off and often impeded by construction equipment or even pieces of the bridge they are building, she is open.

Despite her frustration, Friel understands that it is all necessary.

“I want a bridge,” said Friel. “But I also want to survive the year.”

The front of the music store is caked in dirt and dust from the construction. On a daily basis, she cleans the front sidewalk for those customers who do take a chance and venture out to visit her establishment.

She also uses both her personal and business Facebook page to remind the people of Connellsville that they are still open.

“We are a small business in Connellsville. We are on Crawford Avenue. We are open,” she said.

According to Friel, it’s the walk-in traffic that she has lost and she believes she knows why. Once the bridge closed, new traffic patterns and detours caused increased traffic in the city. Although the increased traffic tends to only be at certain times of the day, Friel believes many are leery to venture out to some place that is so close to the construction zone.

However, Friel said there is a silver lining: she owns the entire building, which is a half a block long. Her teaching studios have always been located in the back of the building, which has access from that side of the building.

Friel said over 100 students come every week for lessons.

“We informed them where to park and that has been a positive (for us),” said Friel. “It’s more the day-to-day basic retail that has suffered.”

Friel also has an instrument rental program that continues to operate.

“If I was relying on my retail sales, I wouldn’t be here right now,” she said.

Brooke Deason, manager of the Greater Connellsville Chamber of Commerce, and owner of a business on the west side of the bridge project, said while some businesses are probably experiencing less walk-in traffic, service businesses are not seeing the same issues.

Deason said businesses that work on an appointment basis like accountants, beauty salons, physical therapy offices, and even her own business, Brooke’s Block Party on the west side, which hosts birthday parties, field trips and LEGO, robotics and summer camps, are surviving and in some cases, thriving.

She said that if traffic impacts any of these types of businesses, it’s usually customers from the south side of the city, who are aware of the traffic issues and feel it’s too much of a hassle to come to the west side.

Because a lot of her business comes from outside of Connellsville and she has made a push to promote to those customers, Deason has seen little impact at all. In fact, her birthday party bookings are right on target or even a little better than normal.

While there haven’t been too many losses of businesses closing during these four months, Deason said there have even been a few new businesses open, like Shawn’s Barbecue at the former Polish Club, and Fresh As A Daisy, a new beauty salon, which the chamber recently celebrated with a ribbon cutting.

In addition, Deason said it has been easier to visit some of the businesses on the west side during construction because there is virtually no traffic and it’s much easier to cross the street to visit Kickstand Kitchen or other businesses.

That being said, Deason understands that there are some businesses, like the Connellsville Canteen on the east side of the bridge, that are suffering. She believes that is because they rely on locals for their traffic.

“People from outside of Connellsville are still coming. I mean what’s two more minutes added onto a 30-minute drive,” said Deason. “It’s the people that live here in Connellsville that we need to support our local businesses.”

The bridge closure has also forced several events to relocate.

The Connellsville Farmer’s Market, which last year was held at the former East Side Fire Station, has changed its location to Yough River Park for a number of reasons including the bridge project.

Deason said while the fire station didn’t charge a fee and it was nice having a large enough indoor option in case of inclement weather, the farmer’s market intends to continue holding the market at the park past this year.

The chamber also encourages people wanting to visit the seed library at the office to make an appointment, so they are sure someone is in the office before heading out.

Meanwhile, the bridge project continues to progress, but the bridge is not expected to open back up until late fall.