Roadworks taking their toll
Mark R. Madler
The weekly farmer’s market that sets up in downtown on Saturday
mornings has seen its attendance and sales drop as reconstruction
work continues on a three-block stretch of 3rd Street.
There were six farmers last weekend who had no customers at their
stalls set up in a city-owned parking lot at 3rd Street and Orange
Grove Avenue, said Carolyn Hill, market manager for the Burbank
Certified Farmer’s Market.
“I could have shot a cannon through there and not hit anybody,”
she said. “It’s unfortunate when we have fewer customers and a dent
in sales.”
The construction area on 3rd Street from Olive to Verdugo avenues
has rerouted traffic away from where the market, and potential
customers may not know where to park, Hill said.
A trench dug at the intersection of Olive and 3rd Street has
resulted in the closure of the block of 3rd Street directly in front
of the parking lot where the farmer’s market is set up.
The street closure is also having its effect on employees in City
Hall and the City Hall Annex building both of which are along 3rd
Street.
Hill said she understands why the reconstruction work is necessary
-- the intersection of 3rd and Verdugo was a mess.
“There was no road left down there after all the [winter] rain,”
she said.
The farmer’s market operates from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on
Saturdays year round.
Hill and the farmers selling their produce at the market can
expect some relief come late August. That is when city officials
expect the roadwork to be complete.
The $477,000 reconstruction project is being paid for with federal
Community Development Block grant funds.
The reconstruction of 3rd Street is part of a long-term plan by
the city to replace the heavily used downtown streets with concrete.
Bonnywood Place, parallel to the Golden State (5) Freeway, and 1st
Street from Magnolia Boulevard to Orange Grove Avenue are two other
roadways in need of replacement with concrete, Teaford said.