DUNMORE, Pa. — The parking lot outside Dunmore Lumber on South Blakely Street is practically empty—an unusual sight for the middle of the day during its busiest time of year.
"He works here, he works here, I work here, and then the other guy is the guy digging the hole. So that's who's here right now," said owner Ron Cordaro, describing the cars in the parking lot.
This was exactly what Cordaro was worried about when he heard his street would be closed for nearly two months for a water main installation project.
"When they say that they're going to close your road to your place, right in front of your place, you get panic-stricken."
Paul Praino, who owns Duke's Pizza next door, felt the same way.
"When they told me they were going to close the road, I was a little scared, a little bit shocked at first," Praino said.
Fortunately, his fears haven't come true. It's been business as usual this week.
"But I don't think a lot of people know about it yet, so a lot of people are calling, and then they come down, they find out. They've been really good to my customers, telling them they'll let them through, but still, obviously, it's an inconvenience."
Pennsylvania American Water says the road should be back open by the end of July, but businesses here hope it's a lot sooner than that.
"Eight weeks, my God, that's the end of the summer. We're done," Cordaro said.
"I'm hearing all kinds of different stories on that one. I'm hoping sooner. Of course, I'm concerned, but so far, it hasn't been too bad for us, so hopefully, our customers will keep coming," Praino said.
A detour is in place, but Cordaro says he's going to make his own signs telling people to go a different way to get to his business that he says is faster.
"Because people aren't going to want to drive all that way and out of the way. That's their detour, not mine. I'll give them a much better one; I wish they talked to me in the beginning."
Both places are open for their regular business hours during the project.