BERNE — Business has decreased by 75 percent at the Fox Creek Market since state road work closed the bridge carrying Route 443 over the Fox Creek on June 30, according to Tammy Weiler who runs the store with her husband, Ray.

Business had been “steady,” she said, since they opened on June 1, 2014. The roadwork, replacing the bridge that leads into the intersection of routes 443 and 156 in the hamlet, started on Tuesday, June 30. “The next day, things just plummeted,” said Weiler.

The store had averaged 100 to 115 customers a day; that has decreased now to below 50.

Consequently the night hours were dropped, said Weiler. “We would be lucky if we did $150 in sales during the night shift, from 3 to 8,” she said.

Weiler went on, “The first week, I pushed our delivery. The second week, two days in a row, I had one delivery each day; it was the same person — an elderly woman who can’t get out,” she said of the regular customer.

Now, the store hours have been cut to Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. with delivery, and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Berne Town Supervisor Kevin Crosier said this week that he had not heard of any other businesses suffering due to the closure.

“We had a public informational meeting, with the plans, long before the closure happened,” said Crosier.

He said the town had been proactive, working with the state’s Department of Transportation to try to find alternatives to the complete closure of the bridge, but it was not possible.

“The problem was, it is so tight in there, and there is so much disrepair, it just wasn’t feasible to keep a lane open,” said Crosier.

The bridge carries an average of 1,231 vehicles per day.

This is the second year of a two-year $2 million project; last summer, the adjacent intersection was widened to allow better sight distance and wider shoulders and lanes.

Crosier also said that the bridge closure happened nearly simultaneously with the schools closing for the summer, and that some of the market’s customer drop-off may be due to students, parents, and teachers no longer driving  by daily.

“Has the bridge closure had an affect on business?” he asked himself. “Maybe. But I can’t quantify it.”

Crosier said he is sympathetic to Fox Creek Market’s plight, but feels there is nothing to be done except wait it out.

“Considering the amount of repair being done it is a remarkably short time to be closed,” he said. “If they can just hang on until the end of summer, it has to be re-opened before school starts.”

The market still offers pizza, wings, subs, and dinner specials on Friday night. But it’s difficult now for Weiler to caluculate what to buy and what to prepare. “We had to change how we do everything,” she said. “We used to pre-cook stuff and pre-slice lunch meats. We lost a lot of food because it wasn’t selling and it went bad. It’s hard to restock. I don’t have the money for everything.”

An electric sign tells motorists that the store is still open, Weiler said, “but they think it means to keep going straight and then they can’t get across the bridge. They need to take Rock Road.”

Bryan Viggiani, regional public information officer for the DOT, said a sign marking a detour from Route 156 to Rock Road was not considered because the department did not want to increase traffic on the rural road.

“Local traffic, just cars, are fine,” said Viggiani. “But we don’t want to be re-routing big trucks onto that road on a daily basis.”

There are concerns about visibility and sight distance on that road, he said.

He said the DOT had assumed that “locals” would know their way around and would use Rock Road.

After hearing from The Enterprise of the trouble Fox Creek Market is facing, Viggiani said the DOT would look at the business-open signs to see if they are appropriate and would be in contact with Weiler.

Weiler notes that the market supports area farmers, selling local produce, honey, maple syrup, and milk. “We try to support the locals,” she said. “We could use the support now.”

The roadwork is slated for completion by Aug. 31 and Weiler concedes, “Waiting for cement to dry, you can’t hurry.”

Still, she said, “Eight weeks is a long time and the state won’t reimburse us for any loss.”

Whether her business will survive, she said, “is going to be iffy — we’re hoping to keep our heads above water.”

She concluded, “There’s a lot of loyal customers who come in every day — some just for a cup of coffee and the company. We really need the support of the community this summer.”