FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — At the beginning of September, we told you about the Singing Bridge in Frankfort closing after deficiencies were found following an inspection in late August.
Local businesses on Bridge Street are now feeling the effects of that closure and are concerned about what's to come in the future.
"We are already feeling the impact of not having people walking across the bridge, driving across the bridge," says Austin Smith Co-owner of Retro's: The Vault.
Austin Smith opened the location in early September, just days before the bridge shutdown.
"Before the bridge was closed down, there were 3,000 cars a day coming across it. I felt like it was a win, win," says Smith.
A time frame on when the bridge will reopen has not been announced, but several businesses along Bridge Street are worried about what's to come.
We have already seen a signifigant decline in customers since the first day that we opened. The first day we probably had 30-40 people in our store. It was a soft opening and people were just finding out about it. Now, on a daily basis, I might have five people, ten people," says Smith.
Tony Bryant is the owner of Big Daddy's Fried Chicken right across the street. He has been open for just two months and has felt the effects of the bridge closure.
"Since it has been shutdown, we have definitely noticed a decrease in traffic and in sales. I would say I have lost at least 75%," said Bryant
Frankfort Mayor Layne Wilkerson spoke with a few of those business owners on Wednesday about possible solutions.
"Being a local buisness owner myself, I want to make sure that small buisnesses here in Franklin County and Frankfort are taken care of and this is unfortunate because the bridge was closed so abruptly and there is nothing we can do about that," says Mayor Wilkerson. "If we get the pedestrian access, that will be a big help. If this is going to be closed for a long period of time, maybe we can rearrange the parking situation here on this short block of Bridge Street and help the businesses so that we can fit more cars here and make it easier for cars to come in and turn around."
Mayor Wilkerson hopes to continue to work with small business owners to find solutions on how to get more foot traffic through the area until the bridge reopens.
