KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- The Nitro-St.Albans bridge is set to close for construction Monday morning for 11 months, giving many small business owners around it a scare.
"I was worried at first," manager Charlene Martin said at the Living Water Thrift Store in Nitro. She's proud to serve a small community with her business, but wonders whether the shutdown will impair traffic to her store.
And she's not alone. At the nearby Valley Cash and Feed Store, co-owner Patrice Banker is concerned about continuing to serve her elderly customers after the closure.
"A lot of them don't like to drive anyway, and they're not familiar with the different routes," she said.
That's why Banker decided to start a delivery service this year, which she says will run twice a week in St. Albans and the surrounding areas.
She says she toyed with the idea of creating a satellite business, but decided that wasn't as economically feasible as the delivery service.
Although the thought of losing revenue makes them nervous, most business owners told WSAZ.com that they agree the bridge needs work, and that shutting it down for about a year is a much better option than closing it completely.
"It's an old bridge," Martin said with a laugh.
Banker says she's just looking forward to when construction is finished, and believes her regulars will stick with her through the hassle.
"A lot of people are loyal customers and they already told us they will drive around it," she said.
Alternate routes to the construction include taking the Nitro exit off of I-64 or taking the Dunbar Toll Bridge.
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