The Klineline Bridge reconstruction is on short-order because its December 2007 closure has diverted at least 17,000 vehicles a day, affecting traffic flows to at least two dozen businesses on and around Highway 99.
“This project has had an inordinate amount of public involvement,” said Linda Small, a Clark County Public Works capital project manager.
Education and outreach have been the county’s tools in helping businesses impacted by the closure, particularly through its Klineline Outreach Advisory Group. The committee and county staff held public meetings and walked the Klineline corridor distributing information on the project.
The county also has a detailed project website and listserv.
Near the construction site, Airgas is one business that’s fared well during the bridge closure. The bridge project’s general contractor, Longview-based Ostrander Rock and Construction Co. Inc., has made regular purchases of safety equipment at the store. Airgas remained busy this spring, according to one of its retail employees.
But that hasn’t been the case for other businesses.
“When they closed the bridge initially, it affected our business to the tune of a 15 percent drop,” said Sunny Parsons, co-owner of Cascade Flooring America. “As soon as they started construction we had our worst month at the store. We were down 45 percent, lower than our worst December.”
Parsons is a member of the Klineline Outreach Advisory Group, and his business has been in Vancouver 29 years.
To compensate for the loss of traffic, Parsons boosted his advertising budget to four times that of 2007 and is offering more discounts. In May, business picked up a bit at the retail flooring showroom. But sales were still down 20 percent compared to a year before.
And the bridge isn’t expected to reopen for another five months.
County Public Information Officer Jim Gladson said the county can’t compensate the affected businesses for their loss of funds. It is illegal to use public funds to provide direct assistance to individual businesses, he said.
“I think we’re going to recover,” Parsons said. “I’m kind of a pessimist so I planned for the worst-case scenario. But a lot of these smaller companies might not make it.”
Nearby, Thunder Reef Divers suffered drops of 30 percent in April and 20 to 25 percent in May compared to 2007. Most of the full-service diving shop’s façade has been blocked by the project since mid-April, said Jen Gillock, a company manager.
“It almost looks like we’re condemned,” she said. “Thunder Reef has been here for 25 years, so that’s the saving grace. … It will be a big hit in the end, but we’re hopeful that we’re going to survive.”
—Charity Thompson
