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Business Owners Express Concern About Comm. Ave. Bridge Project

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Business owners and commuters that use roads near the Commonwealth Avenue and BU Bridge are tensing up, as the second and final rehab of the Comm. Ave. bridge starts at the end of the month.

Work last summer caused traffic headaches on surface roads and the Mass Pike.

And again this year, the $110 million project will affect all modes of transportation in the area. For about two weeks, Comm. Ave. will be closed to private vehicles between St. Mary's and St. Paul streets — three fewer than last year.

At a public meeting Tuesday night held by the state to talk about the construction, some business owners expressed concern the project would affect them negatively.

Reed Lappin, owner of the In Your Ear record store, which sits just a few blocks from where the bridge will be rehabbed, thinks it could be just as disruptive.

"It'll be harder to get around. So, we'll see if people figure out ways to get around it better than they did last year," he said.

Like last year, both sides of the bridge will be shut down to private vehicles, and there will be several detours. Shuttle buses will run in lieu of the T's Green Line, and the road will still be open to pedestrians and bicyclists.

In addition, the stretch of the Mass. Pike underneath the bridge will be affected — two lanes in each direction will be closed during rush hour between the Allston interchange and the Beacon Street overpass, and there could be lane closures at other times.

Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said that normally about 200,000 people use the bridge each day. But between the last week in July and mid-August, he's urging them to stay away if they can.

"It is a good time to take a vacation, and if you do not have to come into the city, especially by this route, you should not," he said.

Louis Fenerlis, who owns Louie's Haircuts, said the repairs hurt his business last year, because he felt he didn't have enough time to give his customers a heads up.

That was a common complaint, and there were a lot of maps of the construction and detours available at the meeting. Fenerlis took a big stack.

"I'd rather see it done quick and go through the pain for a couple weeks and be done instead of dealing with it for five, six years," he said.

A second public meeting will be held Wednesday night in Cambridge to discuss the construction with residents and business owners. The second and final part of the Comm. Ave. Bridge repairs start on Thursday, July 26 and end on Saturday, Aug. 11.

This segment aired on July 18, 2018.

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