SPOKANE, Wash. – Ongoing construction on the Latah Valley water main replacement project along Cheney-Spokane Road is continuing to have substantial impacts to businesses nearby, with losses that are difficult to measure.
“When you lose everything day after day, or people can’t access you or you don’t have foot traffic, we’re down almost 50 percent,” said Chaps Diner and Bakery owner Celeste Shaw in a Wednesday interview.
The City of Spokane has a detour in place for customers to access businesses in shopping centers along Cheney-Spokane Rd. north of its full closure, but it’s proven to be confusing to navigate for drivers.
“After the losses of COVID and being closed down, there’s just not a lot left to be able to manage an enormous loss like this,” Shaw said.
Even the most loyal fans of Chaps, like Joy Terry and her husband, are still confused by the ongoing detours
“I missed the first turn off and so I had to turn around and come back,” Terry said. “It does make it more difficult for Celeste to do the kind of business she needs to do, I would really hate to see it impact her in such a negative way.”
If that wasn’t enough, a gas line break forced the evacuation of the entire restaurant a couple weeks ago.
“Our water heater blew because of it,” Shaw said. “We abandoned all of the products we were working on, and all of our customers had to abandon their food.”
After they got back up and running, another issue popped up last Friday: a water line broke in the middle of their brunch service, forcing them to close for the day.
“We’re left with dealing with more loss, more repairs, damaged equipment, loss of revenue and loss of wholesale revenue,” Shaw said. “You know it continues to transcend into more than just one single problem.”
“With any construction project, when you start tearing things up you find things you didn’t anticipate,” city spokesperson Kirstin Davis said.
Davis said older infrastructure in the area included some pipes in the pavement they didn’t know about previously, which were struck by construction crews.
“We completely understand the impact that it has, and we really try to [work] as quickly as pain-free as possible,” Davis said. “But that’s a really challenging area with the geographic location and the space we have to work with, and [the project is] going to take a long time because it’s a major infrastructure improvement.”
With work on Cheney-Spokane Rd. slated to go through October, Shaw’s hoping for better signage to show drivers that businesses are still open during construction, plus she’s worried about limited access for drivers in an emergency.
“Safety, I think, is always number one for all of us down here,” Shaw said. “If you can’t have some kind of safety protocol, even with EMS being able to access, we all start to worry a little bit more than just losing business.”
Shaw and her team are persevering in the face of some really trying times: “it’s our goal to continue to have faith over fear, and lean into it, and do what we can to support each other,” she said.
Being rewarded with a packed house for breakfast and lunch service on Wednesday was overwhelming for Shaw.
“It becomes more than what you’re eating, or being served, or buying at a grocery store,” she said. “It means that they believe in you and what you do, and they want to still be there, we’re connected and committed.”
For more information about Chaps, visit their website by clicking here.
