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.