I-195 bridge closure is impacting businesses. Here's how, and what they are doing about it
Is your business impacted by the bridge closure?We want to hear from you. Email reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com
PROVIDENCE − Businesses on both sides of the Seekonk River have already reported big drops in sales and customers following the emergency closure of the Washington Bridge, creating an hours-long barrier and commute between the East Bay and Providence.
For retail establishments, the closure is proving to be incredibly harmful, with one gift shop reporting a 50% drop in sales during the one month where they make 66% of their profits for the year.
How businesses are helping each other, and commuters
Gift store Frog & Toad, with locations on the East Side (795 Hope St.) and West End (713 Westminster St.), found a friend in the restaurant Rhody Roots in Warren, after the restaurant offered to be an East Bay pickup spot for orders. People can order online and Frog & Toad co-owner Asher Schofield will bring their purchases to Rhody Roots.
Schofield said the offer to help "came out of the blue."
"It's an incredibly generous offer, and I think it speaks to the nature of Rhode Islanders, that in a time of crisis, we've seen time and time again, neighbors stand up for each other," Schofield said.
Business drops at the most important time of the year
Frog & Toad's store on the East Side has seen the biggest drop in sales, but the West End store is suffering, too.
"This is my 23rd holiday season in retail, and I'd felt like I'd seen it all," he said.
Schofield said he was expecting some kind of challenge, because something always seems to happen during the holiday season, such as the pandemic, power outages, or road work shutting down Hope Street.
"I didn't have the bridge closure on my bingo card this year," he said.
Business on Tuesday was down 50% compared with the same day last year, and early returns on Wednesday afternoon also appeared bleak.
"I think citywide, we're going to hear calls for assistance, for financial aid or what have you, get louder and louder as the days go by," he said.
The gift store makes 66% of its annual sales in December, so losing much of the East Bay customer base for more than half of the most important shopping days is a huge hit.
"When you're talking about a 50% reduction, it gets pretty scary," he said.
But looking at the bright side, Schofield is working to get three new bumper stickers printed to commemorate the debacle:
"I did not survive the I-195 Washington Bridge Debacle 2023"
"Don't blame me! I voted for the Cranston-Barrington Underwater Tunnel"
"What if we kissed in the traffic on the Henderson Bridge rotary?"
Neighboring business Stock Culinary Goods has also seen a slump in sales on Tuesday and early Wednesday, owner Jan Dane said.
Like Schofield, Dane is trying to work out a drop-off agreement with an East Bay restaurant for any online orders.
"It has changed the tenor of the season a little bit," she said. "It has a little bit of that pandemic vibe, where all of a sudden, we're pivoting."
Dane opened her shop 12 years ago, when Hope Street was torn up for pipe replacements. Schofield counseled her at the time that a little pain now was worth a better future.
"It was my first year, the store was brand new, we had no cushion and I was freaking out," she said. "He set the tone, of cleaner water in the way, and turned it to, there's always going to be bad stuff happening, and there's always a bright spot, and that's what I'm clinging to."
Wednesday sees slight improvement for traffic and business
While Tuesday appeared to be apocalyptic, with a more than two-hour commute from Warren to the East Side, on Wednesday, it was just 45 minutes, Schofield said.
The restaurant and deli Italian Corner, at 10 Boyd Ave. in East Providence, posted Tuesday on Facebook that they are open but seeing a 40% drop in business.
Italian Corner owner Massimo Dellolio said traffic was backed up all day Tuesday and sales tanked. One lunch delivery to a Providence business was late, even though the food was ready early because the delivery driver was stuck in traffic for so long. The customer understood that there was no getting around the delay.
"It took about two hours for him to come and go, in what could have been a half-hour trip," Dellolio said.
On Wednesday afternoon, traffic was flowing and more people were coming into his shop, but it was not like a regular December day.
One of his employees, who lives a mile and a half away, was stuck in traffic for an hour and a half until Dellolio opened up Google Maps and directed her through side streets, getting her to the store in five minutes.
Dellolio said he does not know how business will be as people adjust to the bridge closure.
"We'll see what we have for bread left over," he said. "We make our own bread, and yesterday, we had a lot of bread. But, we'll make bread crumbs with it, and we use a lot of them."
Stuck in East Providence? Get out of the traffic for food and drink, deals await
'Chaos' for yoga studios on both sides of closed bridge
At Providence Power Yoga, with locations on either side of the bridge, Eddy Street and Wampanoag Trail, owner JoEllen Hockenbrough wrote in an email that the closure is "causing chaos" for her teachers and staff.
Normally, teachers travel between both yoga studios, but now they're sticking to one side of the bridge.
"Clients are not able to get to their classes, and yesterday (Day 1), frustration was so high we had several people calling the studio asking to put their memberships on hold for three months or cancel altogether," she wrote.
Hockenbrough is trying to add more weekend classes to stem the tide of cancellations and meet people where they are, on either side of the bridge.
"This all comes on the heels of several years of pandemic closures and low attendance due to COVID," she wrote. "This was supposed to be our recovery year!!"
Far from what city leaders are saying, the situation in Providence is very bad because no one can get into the city. If no one comes into the city, the yoga studio loses clients and if people in East Providence are afraid to drive because of traffic jams, she loses clients, Hockenbrough wrote.
"I don't even know how to describe how bad this is for small businesses," she wrote.
Employers asked to allow working from home
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley said he is imploring businesses to let employees who live in the East Bay or the other side of the river to work from home.
"Most businesses got good at that through the pandemic, so it’s time to dust that plan back off again and try to provide a little bit of relief for the next two weeks if you think your employees can do so,” Smiley said.
No state of emergency, no federal funds?
During a press conference on Wednesday, Smiley disagreed with Gov. Dan McKee's decision to not declare a state of emergency in Rhode Island amid major traffic tie-ups because of the Washington Bridge westbound closure.
Smiley said he doesn't know why an emergency declaration wouldn't be made.
“The SBA, if a disaster gets declared, has resources available to small businesses," Smiley said. "The first step in that process is getting businesses to affirm that they’ve lost business because of this.”
McKee defended his decision against declaring an emergency right now, saying, "If it makes sense, we will."
“We’re going to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to protect our small business community," McKee said. "I happen to shop in this area quite a bit.”
Restaurants helping out commuters
Honeybird, the new Southern-fried chicken restaurant just across from the Henderson Bridge, has a sign in front of its restaurant declaring, "Water and restrooms available!"
In a post on Instagram, the restaurant wrote that the facilities are for people stuck in traffic who need a quick break.
Drivers are being detoured to the Henderson bridge, the source of its own complaints for a roundabout that lacked signage and has drivers pulling into the drive lane, stopping traffic.
On Tuesday afternoon, The Local, a sports bar at 478 Waterman Ave., East Providence, was offering a free draft beer with any purchase from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
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Reporter Jack Perry contributed to this report. Reach reporter Wheeler Cowperthwaite at wcowperthwaite@providencejournal.com or follow him on Twitter @WheelerReporter.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI businesses hurt by Washington Bridge closure during holiday season
