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Roadworks hit trade

Bar and restaurant owners are furious after roadworks “killed” their weekly trade.

Maintenance work on the pedestrian crossing in West Street, Gravesend, started on Sunday, August 11.

It should be finished by Friday, and for the owners of nearby Riva waterside restaurant and bar, the Three Daws riverside inn and Middle Ei8ht pub, it cannot end too soon.

Lester Banks says the road works have been bad for business.
Lester Banks says the road works have been bad for business.

The original traffic-light-controlled crossing, at the end of the High Street, is cordoned off while work takes place, which includes realigning the block paving.

People now have to walk further along West Street to safely cross at the next available zebra crossing.

Owners believe that the diverted route – albeit a short one of 80 paces – is driving customers away.

Lester Banks, owner of the Three Daws, said: “It has had a very marked effect on us because we’ve been isolated from the High Street and hence the rest of the town.

“I’ve spoken to the council but obviously the works were required, it’s just unfortunate.

“Regulars make their way in, but it’s our general day-to-day trade that has been very severely affected.” It is not just the obstruction of easy access that is causing problems.

The road works currently ongoing in Gravesend
The road works currently ongoing in Gravesend

Anna Clarke, restaurant manager at Riva, said: “We’ve had fewer walk-ins since the roadworks started and the parking on the side is always blocked by the roadworks.

“Everything has slowed down. The noise and the dirt caused from cutting the cobble stones was horrible.

“Our owner is hoping to make a complaint about it – it’s been bad for business all week.”

Staff and owners of the Middle Ei8ht
Staff and owners of the Middle Ei8ht

Although weekends and evenings are busy times for the watering holes, daytime trade is also valued highly, especially by new establishment Middle Ei8ht.

The bar is a venue for live music and owner Liam Jackson, said the roadworks were disrupting the atmosphere vital to musical performances.

He said: “They’ve killed business this week. I was told they’d be done Tuesday, then Thursday, but to be honest, knowing building works, they say a week and they mean three years.

“It’s ruining the atmosphere because the effect of the roadworks is the noise and I have an open mic night on Wednesday nights.”

Kent County Council, which is overseeing the roadworks, was unable to comment at the time of going to press.

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