SCRANTON -- Businesses in part of Scranton are thrilled a project is wrapping up on a busy stretch of road.
Those shops and restaurants in and around the Keyser Oak Shopping Center learned there's a "cost of construction" that's more than just the price of the paving.
Construction workers put the finishing touches on a paving project along North Keyser Avenue in Scranton. Several weeks of disruption near the Keyser Oak Shopping Center are done, and that means stores like Gerrity's Supermarket are seeing the return of many customers who stayed away.
"I never came near the place. This is probably the third week since I've been up here," said Faith Howell.
Gerrity's certainly noticed the amount of people avoiding the area. Owner Joe Fasula says sales were down around 11 percent.
"Many of my friends and neighbors, because I live close to this store, would say, you know I'm avoiding that. Even my wife was pulling her hair out because she always shops here," Fasula said.
"Traffic in here was greatly reduced. You could see the effect," said Dave D'Esposito at Kids Quality Outlet. "The parking lot, there were maybe a fifth of the cars that were here now."
D'Esposito says they saw a decrease in sales, too.
For the last three weeks, the stretch of Keyser Avenue in this already busy area was ripped up, then repaved, leading to long delays for people trying to get to work.
"That was horrible. I mean it took 20 minutes to get right here from Oak Street just to get into the plaza," D'Esposito added.
Businesses in this area want customers to know that not only are construction delays going to be done, but there's also a nice smooth, freshly paved Keyser Avenue to welcome you.
"Oh, yeah, no potholes, nothing like that. It is nice to travel down here now," said Diane Flanagan of Clarks Green
And businesses here want that message to spread quickly.
"We're here. We're ready. We're waiting for you and you should be able to get in and out with no problem," said Fasula.
While the project near the Keyser Oak Shopping Plaza is done, PennDOT says a larger project widening and improving a different stretch of Keyser Avenue continues through the end of the summer.
