Jenny Sellers and her mother, Susan Foster, have been collecting and selling antiques for 20 years, and in the past six years they have moved their store, Susannah’s Antiques, from Raleigh to one of the oldest buildings in Rolesville, on the corner of a historic intersection.
Sellers spoke passionately about how much she loves the area, the people and the place, but she classified the past few months as full of trials and tribulations due to construction work that has closed the intersection of Main and Yonge streets.
“People can’t find us. We get 10 calls a day, nine of them are, ‘This is where I am. How do I get there from here?'” Sellers told WRAL News.
The town closed the intersection as part of the $23 million Rolesville Main Street Project, with the goal being to create a safer, more attractive Main Street.
“We’ll be excited when the road is finished. It’s going to be beautiful. You’re going to get beautiful views and it’s going to be really walkable. It’s been a struggle and a hardship to get there,” Sellers said.
“We’re really trying to create a downtown tourism destination and bring back Main Street,” Rolesville Economic Development Director Mikal McFarland said.
The intersection has been closed since June 17. It was scheduled to reopen by Sept. 15, but rainy weather and public works have delayed the plan. McFarland said the new target date is Oct. 4.
“You don’t know what’s down there until you start digging. This is a historic downtown area. I don’t think anyone has gone down there in years and years and explored what’s underneath,” he explained.
Town officials say the project requires collaboration from Dominion Energy, Duke Energy, NCDOT, City of Raleigh Department of Public Utilities, NCDEQ, USACE and private developers.
Workers identified the following issues:
During the installation of the storm drainage system, it was determined that an existing City of Raleigh water main was damaged and required relocation. Multiple leaks have occurred and additional coordination is ongoing with the Town of Rolesville, City of Raleigh Department of Public Works, and contractor Fred Smith Company to repair the issues. An underground fuel tank was discovered at the intersection, which must be repaired per NCDEQ guidelines. Coordination is currently ongoing. Additional underground investigations are scheduled to determine contamination levels and steps to mitigate and avoid contamination. Relocation of gas lines was delayed due to underground fuel tanks. Portions of existing sewer and water lines were not shown on the Public Works reference plans and therefore were not drawn on the design plans. Additional coordination is ongoing with the City Department of Public Works, design engineers, property owners, and contractors.
Sellers said the problems business owners are having are problems that could have been prevented if planners had included planning and better understood the needs of each business. She said foot traffic to her business has dropped by half since construction began, affecting her revenue.
“We’ve had to lay off some employees because we can’t afford to keep them on,” she said. “They said the work will take six to eight weeks, and we’re already well into the fourth month, which is worrying.”
McFarland said the town continues to promote the intersection’s small businesses through social media and signage and has met with business owners. The town also provides parking for customers.
“It might be a little bit harder to get there,” he acknowledged.
“Our hope is that some of these temporary obstacles will be outweighed by the long-term benefits this project will bring.”
McFarland said despite the delays, the project is on track to be completed on time and within budget.
“The entire project is still under review to meet the two-year deadline,” McFarland said. “I believe we’ve identified most of the causes of the delays so far.”