The Route 518 bridge over the D&R Canal between Rocky Hill and Franklin has been closed since July 6
ROCKY HILL -- In July, the Route 518 bridge was closed and work began to replace it, only to have equipment sitting idle two days later when Gov. Chris Christie ordered the shutdown of hundreds of transportation projects across the state.
Weeks turned into months and small businesses in the surrounding area felt the impact as people would much rather avoid the area than sit in traffic that's backed up for miles.
John Shedd, whose Rocky Hill pottery studio is just past the sign detouring traffic onto Crescent Avenue, watched as his sales plummeted by as much as 60 percent.
He said his walk-in business, which accounts for 60 to 80 percent of his sales, has been practically non-existent and even longtime customers have had to argue with construction crews to get past the barriers.
Despite apologies and promises that it won't happen again, it keeps happening.
The bridge work restarted Nov. 21, but by then, Shedd had already made the decision to sell.
"It's not the 90s when I used to have six employees," he said. "It's just me right now and when you get below fixed costs, you can't afford to lose that much money. The taxes stay the same, the utilities stay the same and there's no way you can continue."
Potter finds niche with area restaurants
Shedd said the stalled bridge work hit his business harder than any of the three floods he's had to deal with over the past 37 years.
"This is a case where it's so quiet, nothing is going on," he said. "You either make a decision to stay open and get what you can or close and get nothing. But when it gets to a point when you're getting nothing, you might as well close."
Starting June 1, the bridge was down to one lane so crews could begin preparatory work and by July 6, the entire bridge was closed to traffic.
The $2.75 million job to replace the bridge's piers and support beams, install abutment caps on either side of the canal and rebuild the concrete surface was scheduled to be completed by Aug. 5, weather permitting.
But the subsequent shutdown of work ground everything to a halt and the indefinite bridge closure left several towns in limbo.
Emergency responders trying to reach a hospital have to add anywhere between 9 and 25 minutes to each call, trucks traveling between Routes 206 and 27 clog the back roads, morning and evening commutes are a nightmare and businesses are losing money.
Work resumed in November, but the winter weather means there are some days when it's too cold to pour concrete.
Shedd says he could have endured a month-long closure since July is typically his slowest month, but his busy season runs from October through early January.
The bridge is now expected to be completed by early 2017, but for him, it's already too late.
"That's irrelevant to me," he said. "I can't wait that long. It was getting to be impossible by September."
He has an offer to buy the property and now he's looking ahead about where to set up shop.
"It may be a period of time before I'm back making pottery everyday ... but I can't imagine stopping. I'll figure out someway to beat them at this."
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.