One year ago today the Haddonfield Commissioners started a new, massive project to replace aging infrastructure underneath Tanner Street. Come to the present, and Tanner Street is still being worked on, with its roadway completely torn up and waiting to be replaced.
While the initial infrastructure project was completed earlier this year before the summer began, the borough approved the current project, which will repave the street and add several parking spaces near library point.
The two projects have basically had Tanner Street under a backhoe for the past year and business owners along the street are becoming increasingly frustrated with the length of the projects.
Wendy Kates, owner of Stardust Memories on Tanner Street, said it’s been a miserable experience for business owners.
“From the merchant’s perspective, we’ve taken a major hit with this construction. It has been dreadful for everybody,” she said.
Kates doesn’t necessarily put the blame on the borough for the lengthy process, but the construction firm that is reconstructing the road. Kates said there have been several days where Paramount Enterprises Inc., a local Cherry Hill firm, has had no employees working on the street despite perfect weather.
It’s frustrating, she said, that the project is moving so slowly. Originally the borough had estimated that the entire project would be completed by September.
“I think they’re dreadful. They started the job June 1, of course they had some delays because of weather, but the problem is they started tearing up the second block of Tanner Street and it’s been that way for six weeks now,” she said.
Mayor Tish Colombi said it’s an understatement that the borough is displeased with how slow the construction has taken. However, because Paramount Enterprises Inc. submitted the lowest bid for the project and the borough had no prior reason to disqualify them as a contracting company, they were legally obligated to award them the contract, Colombi said.
However, the borough can start fining them against their bond if the project is not completely by the drop deadline date of Saturday, Sept. 17.
Colombi, Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough, and engineer Todd Day met with the business owners recently and explained to them the situation. Colombi said she understood the pain the business owners were going through and said the borough could have done a better job of keeping them informed.
“We probably could have done a better job of keeping in touch with the business owners, I will say that,” Colombi said.
Joe Brown, executive chef and owner of Melange Café on Tanner Street, said the construction has put his restaurant about $100,000 in debt. When he came to Haddonfield three and a half years ago, Brown said he specifically asked if there was any major construction planner for the street in the future.
Brown said he was told that there wasn’t anything planned on the horizon. It’s a shame, he said, because he closed his Cherry Hill location specifically so he could open up his Haddonfield restaurant.
“I’m probably the most directly affected, because of the fact that I’m dealing with perishables on an ongoing basis. My business is off 60 to 70 percent. I only do lunch now on Friday and Saturday,” Brown said. “Foot traffic, drive by traffic, accessibility, it’s all down. Nobody wants to deal with the headaches when you can barely get into town. In the weekends, when most of my reservations come in for 7 p.m., it’s not typical for guests to be late by 30 minutes because they can’t navigate the town. 90 percent of my business comes from out of town, so it’s tough.”
Terrie Murphy, office manager for Joe Murphy’s law firm on Tanner Street, said the construction firm added a six-inch portion to the corner of their building on 30 Tanner Street that is a hazard for people walking on the sidewalk.
Murphy said that firm installed the piece to “hide the foundation,” but it’s ugly and could possibly trip someone in the future.
“I understand that the work has to be done. We don’t have a storefront or anything, but I’m tired of taking side streets and working my way around. It’s been difficult for people to find their way around the construction,” Murphy said.
A phone call to Paramount Enterprises Inc. was not returned.
