Businesses endure Highway 50 construction

Elsa Martinez was busy helping customers Tuesday afternoon at her market on Highway 50 East, but she said construction has slowed down both her and her customers.

Martinez said construction of the Carson City bypass will be a boom to business eventually, but now the traffic and confusing entrances are hurting some.

Martinez owns Video Centro La Fortuna Meat Market, 2765 Highway 50 E. Colorful piñatas hang from the ceiling, and the smell of cooked meat permeates the air. Children dart around adults waiting in line.

"It has been kind of hectic because of all the traffic," she said. "People have a hard time getting in and getting out. So of course it affects business."

Martinez knows other owners who've had a hard time with the construction, people like Dan Hague and Al Verschell, who own Tequila Dan's at 2300 Highway 50 E.

Verschell said Tuesday that 60 percent of his customers are seniors, and they don't like to navigate the confusing construction zone. Tequila Dan's is between recently renamed Russell Way and a dirt lot, where a crane, cement mixer and other heavy machinery work.

"(Seniors) are staying away in droves most days," he said. "Business is down 70 percent from what it was."

Verschell said he is scared to look at his books, but he knows they're in the red. Customers come in from the Scolari's parking lot or, if they really think ahead, Long Street.

"Once they've gone by, are they going to make the U-turn on 50?" he asked. "No."

The construction zone

The construction zone is less than a mile long, lined with orange barrels and traffic-direction signs. It stretches from Scolari's to Lompa Lane.

Nevada Department of Transportation Spokesman Scott Magruder said the northern half of the bypass will be completed in about two years. He urged business owners to look to the future, when they will be near a major highway interchange.

"I think we've done everything we can to lessen the impact on businesses," he said. "We've put a left turn into the (Scolari's) shopping center. We've put up signs saying 'business access.' We've also done a lot of nighttime work because we can't take up lanes during the day."

He said there was a conflict with the left turn into Scolari's, but it has been settled. About three weeks ago, NDOT put in the Russell Way light, which allows for an arrow-directed left turn in and out of the shopping center.

Mom's Books and Gifts is a small shop in the Courtyard shopping center. Manager Les Swall said moving the traffic light from Lompa Lane to Russell Way helped.

"It's been slow," he said. "You can tell there's been a difference. We've been here for three years, and there's been some kind of construction here since we moved in."

At the south end of the construction zone, Unique Sounds and Auto Accessories Manager Mitch Zaid said he hasn't noticed fewer customers, but the dust and noise are annoying.

On the north side of the highway, Benson's Feed and Tack has operated in Eagle Valley for more than 30 years. Manager Geoff Rhodes said the construction hasn't hurt it that much.

"Fortunately, our customers are enduring and they deal with it, and there's been no problems," he said. "But the traffic is bad. Plus the new signal backs up traffic past the store."

While customers have complained about the traffic, they still come, Rhodes said.

Contact Becky Bosshart at bbosshart@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.