PORT TOWNSEND — No matter how inconvenient or annoying downtown construction might become when sidewalks are torn out next year for repairs, merchants should keep criticism to themselves, advised the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce executive director Thursday.
“You do not want to commiserate with your clients and customers while this is going on,” Teresa Verraes told about 70 people at a meeting sponsored by the Port Townsend Main Street Association on Thursday morning.
The gathering was to plan a strategy for the time beginning in February when some downtown sidewalks will be closed for repairs.
“When someone comes into your store and all you can say is how bad the situation is, they will turn around, walk out of your store and never come back,” Verraes said.
Empty areas underneath
Sidewalks along Taylor Street and on parts of Water Street will be shored up to compensate for “voids” — empty areas below them — that could collapse during earthquakes or, as city Planning Director Rick Sepler said in September, “if a truck were to drive on the sidewalk.”
The $2 million project, funded by three grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency — or FEMA — will proceed in four phases.
The first phase of the process, which will be on Taylor Street between Water and Washington streets, is the most extensive.
It is scheduled to begin Feb. 6 and end May 4.
During the second phase, scheduled for Feb. 20 through March 9, a short section of Water Street between Adams and Quincy streets will be repaired.
Third phase in April
The third phase, planned from April 2 to 20, will see the repair of two small sections of Water Street on both sides of the Tyler Street intersection.
The fourth phase will repair Taylor Street between Water Street and Union Wharf.
The project was planned to avoid the busiest retail season.
Should it not be completed by the end of June, the contractors will be instructed to clean up what they have done so far and pick it up in the fall, city engineer Scott Sawyer told the group at the Thursday meeting.
Penalties could be levied if the contractors can’t finish by then, he said.
The city will not have full control over the utility work needed to reinstall cables, though adequate preparation will be made, Sawyer said.
Disrupt traffic
The construction will disrupt traffic patterns.
For instance, the first phase will see the area closed to vehicle traffic for about three months.
Taylor Street and Adams Street are one-way streets in opposite directions, so Adams Street could be changed to accommodate two-way traffic during the project, Sawyer said.
Along with Verraes, a panel including business owners Solenne Walker, Kris Nelson — who is also a Port Townsend City Council member — Suzy Carroll and Jeannine DeBray talked Thursday morning about helping customers view the disruption in a positive light.
“The history of Port Townsend will be on open view,” DeBray said.
“When the sidewalks come up, people will be able to see our history, which interests a lot of people who come here.”
Customer service
Carroll said all businesses need to set up a marketing budget and provide proactive customer service.
“You want to make eye contact with everyone who comes into your store,” she said.
Nelson advised focusing on residents.
“The tourists will come and go and maybe come back, but if you focus on the locals, the word spreads.”
Verraes said downtown stores can get through the construction period through cooperation.
“If we work together, we will totally make it,” she said.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
