Businesses count costs as road works rumble on
DUFFRY AND MILEHOUSE ROADWORKS HAD NEGATIVE IMPACT ON BUSINESSES
ROAD WORKS at The Duffry and Milehouse are affecting the livelihoods of a number of traders in the area.
Joe and Susie Christian opened Pet Depot in Enniscorthy at the end of July and just two days before opening were told that road works would be taking place outside the shop for two weeks while new water pipes were being laid.
‘ The place is totally disrupted at the minute’, said Joe.
‘ The weekend we opened was great business wise but every day since then we are doing half the business we should be. The traffic is being directed around the town and away from us. People are taking the long route around and as a result are bypassing us.
‘I know that the work has to take place but giving two days notice is horrendous. We were told that the work had to happened then because Irish Water fronted up for new pipes so when the money had to be used when they approved it
‘ The workers say that they are going to be finished before the end of the month unless they run into any problems. In fairness they are working really fast but the head guy in Priority Construction told me that if they run into problems they could be held up.
‘At the moment they are laying water pipes and completely resurfacing the road and it’s a great job but it’s so disruptive.
‘Our trade is down 50 per cent and for a business that is just after opening its doors that’s devastating.
‘Myself and my wife Susie are working full time in our Enniscorthy shop and as a result of these works we had to completely rejig our business plan. We had intended putting in a grooming area but we can’t do that yet because we can’t justify it just yet. People are asking us for the service but with the trade down 50 per cent we can’t hire a groomer.
‘We’ve had to put a good few things on hold because of the works. The people of Enniscorthy have been really good to us and welcomed us but the way the traffic is at the moment in this area it’s very difficult for people to get to us.’
Glenn Nolan in Grant’s Pharmacy said that while they did experience disruption for the first week of the works they eased relatively quickly.
‘ The first week the place was fairly dire because the whole outside was blocked off. People had to park in Pettitt’s and make their way up to us when the road was all broken up.
‘ They (the workers) were past our place in about a week and since then it hasn’t been too bad. A lot of our clients would be from the Milehouse area and that area is badly affected so people are struggling to get to us which isn’t ideal.
‘ The thing about a business like ours is that people tend to be repeat customers and want to stick with the same shop because the pharmacist would know their medical history so people make the effort to come to us.
‘Other businesses in the area though haven’t been open long and they are struggling.
‘ The road looks really well now though and progress has to happen.’
Another local business owner said that they definitely noticed a dip in business while roadworks were outside their premises but said that things have now returned to normal.
‘We opened during the summer so we had a few weeks to establish ourselves before the roadworks started. In reality the road needed to be done so there was nothing we could do about it but I think the timing wasn’t great. I don’t know why it couldn’t have been done when the schools closed rather than when they were reopening.
‘It was difficult for the time when the road works were right outside and there was a drop in businesses but after those two weeks things picked up again and we are back to normal now.
‘We had been kept informed about the works and I had made quite a few calls to the council prior to the works starting so at least we knew what to expect. We got regular updates about the progress which was helpful.
‘Ultimately the road needed to be done and it’s a great job now but I do think the timing of the works could have been better.’