After making their way from the parking lot on the north side of
East Third Street into the Third Street Promenade construction
zone’s open trench, past a paved portion, over two sets of low
wooden pickets, and across the uneven, exposed earth, Jodi Abery
and her friend Ginny Rhodas made it to the front door of Poppy’s
Fish, Poultry and More.
After making their way from the parking lot on the north side of East Third Street into the Third Street Promenade construction zone’s open trench, past a paved portion, over two sets of low wooden pickets, and across the uneven, exposed earth, Jodi Abery and her friend Ginny Rhodas made it to the front door of Poppy’s Fish, Poultry and More.
Relieved, Abery put her hand on the door, pushed it open and spilled over, felled by a thin, bright pink, construction-related thread running along the building’s wall at her feet, that caught her flip-flop sandal.
Next thing she knew, Abery “was sliding on my side and landing on my back. It was like slipping on a banana peel,” she said, laughing, after the incident Tuesday afternoon. “We so carefully picked our way across there. We thought we made it.”
It was humorous, she said, but as of Thursday morning, her knee was swollen and painful, so she was making an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon. She didn’t rule out an insurance claim to the city, but said she wanted to see what was wrong first.
City engineer Yat Cho said this was the first incident that he’d heard of. Customers are supposed to go around the construction, he said. To do that, customers should head west to Monterey Road, cross to the median, then walk down the median to the south side of Third Street and then cross the rest of Monterey. From there, travel south to Fourth Street and cross Monterey again. Then, customers should head north to the new parking lot just north of Trail Dust BBQ and enter Poppy’s courtyard.
Or, they could park in the new parking lot adjacent to Trail Dust and enter the courtyard from there.
Abery and Rhodas, both of Gilroy, have patronized Poppy’s for years, visiting at least once a week. How was she supposed to know, she asked, to enter from the back of the building?
And therein lies the problem for the city and its contractors. Construction began June 15 on the $3.7-million project to convert East Third into a pedestrian friendly street with wide sidewalks and lush landscaping; construction is scheduled to end in December.
Sometime around the Fourth of July, the city placed several signs around downtown directing motorists to parking near Third, and heralding that all Third Street businesses are open.
There are also some banners. But it’s unclear how pedestrians are supposed to get to the businesses once they’re parked, customers like Abery said.
The criticism that there needs to be pedestrian signs was “a fair comment,” said Business Assistance and Housing Services downtown project manager Joyce Maskell.
“We can have more meetings with our team members to get a clearer understanding of where you can walk and where you can drive,” she said.
“We want to do as much as we can, and make sure that we’re doing things that are timely and making things easier on the businesses,” added BAHS senior coordinator Margarita Balagso, who’s in charge of the sign ordering for the project.
Maskell and Balagso said that with construction changing every day, the needs of businesses are ever-changing.
“We really are taking a look at feedback and how things are working. We really are putting our best effort forward,” Maskell said.
For merchants, it may be too little too late. The city promised more and larger signs, they say, and the signs they have now weren’t in place when construction began.
“There was maybe something bantered about” about larger signs, Maskell said, but in the end, “We put up what we thought was appropriate.”
The city has on order some “sail” style signs that will be moveable, Maskell said.
The confusion is especially vexing for Main Street Bagels owner David Trinh, who sat at a table in his empty store about 11 a.m. Wednesday. Trinh said business has dropped 30 percent since construction began. Usually, in the late morning, Trinh said he would normally have about six people in the store.
“But it’s empty. It’s a scary thought. (The store) may be open but it’s still not convenient to get to,” Trinh said.
His business catches a lot of morning commuters grabbing breakfast and coffee to go, he said. Those extra few minutes of parking at a lot and walking cost him business.
Ruth Max and her gal pals sat at Main Street Bagels Thursday morning. They said they’ve made twice weekly trips to the shop, and its earlier incarnations, for more than 10 years. Construction isn’t stopping them. But, Max noted that typically they’d be in the company of other patrons. The store was empty but for their group, and a trickle of on-the-go coffee grabbers.
Trinh and his customers were more sympathetic for Poppy’s owner Mike Castelan. His business is nearly marooned by the construction. Longtime customers like Abery don’t know about the new entrance around back, and Castelan said the signs directing them – a banner that reads: “Poppy’s/ Morgan Hill Times OPEN during construction. Entry Around Back.,” aren’t helping. Abery said she didn’t see the sign, situated above the awnings on the wall facing north.
Castelan said business was already down about 15 to 20 percent thanks to the recession.
“Now add another 30 to 35 percent,” Castelan said. “There’s too minimal access, there’s the perception that we’re closed.”
Ragoots co-owner Colleen Isaacs said the construction has had minimal effect on her eatery so far. But last Friday, the construction zone meandered across Monterey, closing a lane and creating an eyesore for her eatery.
“I don’t think the city’s been real proactive in working with the merchants other than providing signage, which has been hard to read. It hasn’t been effective.”
Isaacs said parking is already an issue, and now that the construction is closer to the restaurant, “I’m afraid that people are going to not want to deal with it.”
Across the street at InDezign Salon, owner Julie Wolfsmith said she and her stylists try to put a positive spin on it. The city will put a plywood sidewalk in for her customers when construction begins on the north side of the street, since the Third Street entrance is the only one to her store.
“If people walk in with a negative, we show them the plans and tell them how excited we are. People change (their attitude) in a second. If you give in to that negative, then the whole appointment will be a negative,” she said.
Wolfsmith admitted that her business has a couple of legs up on her neighbors. InDezign doesn’t rely on walk-ins like the food-oriented businesses do. And, she owns the building, so she has a more long-term interest in the spot.
“I bought this piece of land 13 years ago, because of the (Third Street Promenade) plans. It was going to be the gateway to Morgan Hill. So I’ve been waiting 13 years for this to happen,” she said.
Next door, Trinh said he hoped it was all worth it in the end.
“As a business owner, you just shake your head, cross your fingers and hope for the best,” Trinh said.
