DALLAS — Dallas Centre Hardware is financially stable in light of the ongoing roundabout construction, which is creating road closures, detours, and traffic pattern changes, said owner Michele Geise.
Many area motorists started to avoid the five-legged intersection of Route 415, Machell Avenue, Main, Lake and Church streets when utility work in preparation for the roundabout started in 2016 and 2017, Geise said.
The result was a loss of walk-in patrons for Dallas Centre Hardware as well as for other Main Street businesses.
“Overall, our sales are down 50 percent,” Geise said.
Geise tracked the revenue loss to a drop in sales in February 2017 when Main Street was closed for utility work.
“We have not recovered from that, but we are not closing,” Geise said, citing a false report by another media outlet that the 37-year-old Main Street landmark business is closing.
Gerard Geise, Michele’s husband, did reportedly obtain a different job, other than working at the store, to support the family of five, but the couple plans to weather the roundabout construction.
“We are stabilizing now,” she said. “But, I am afraid of what is going to happen in the next nine months.”
Main Street
Geise is referencing the scheduled Main Street closure this summer.
Initially, Main Street’s intersection with Route 415 was planned to be closed to install curbing, American with Disabilities Act-compliant sidewalk ramps and stormwater drainage.
Also, three parking places, along Route 415, behind Besecker Realty Inc. and Embellish, a home decorating business, were planned.
However, plans have since been revised, according to Project Inspector Jeff Soroka.
The parking spot project is separated from Main Street’s work, which will shorten the time that Main Street is closed, Soroka said.
“Main Street will be closed for an estimated 60 days,” Soroka said, reporting the closure is tentatively slated for June.
The project revision will allow traffic to use Main Street while the parking spots are created off Route 415, he said.
Roundabout update
Lake and Church streets’ intersections with Route 415 reopened April 23.
However, large concrete barriers directed Route 415 traffic around the outside edge of what will become the roundabout as crews worked in the center of the intersection.
Traffic exiting Main Street could only turn right, while vehicles on Lake and Church streets were restricted to left turns.
All traffic lights at the five-legged intersection were also removed, giving motorists an early feel for what the roundabout would entail.
Detours to minimize the traffic impact are in place and direct vehicles to take Main Street from the intersection with Route 309, near Offset Paperback Manufacturers to reach local businesses.
Tractor trailers 33 feet or longer are being directed through a 37-mile detour that takes them from Route 309 to Route 29 South to Route 118, Soroka said.
“These detours will be in place for two more weeks,” Soroka said, noting the truck detour will be reinstated at a later date when work to Route 415 is scheduled.
Businesses coping
The current traffic pattern seems to work great, said Sue Hand of Sue Hand’s Imagery.
She is preparing her students for the upcoming Main Street closure by advising them to park in the Dallas Centre Hardware store’s back lot.
“The Geises have been the glowing light at this dark time,” Hand said, noting the couple left their lot open so patrons, like her students, could access her business during the utility work phase and will offer the same when Main Street closes.
“We just have to roll with the punches,” she said.
Dominick Fino Jr. of Fino’s Pharmacy reiterates Hand’s sentiments.
“It is working out just fine,” he said. “We have built up our delivery services. We always offered free delivery. Otherwise, things are working out just fine.”
