Pomona businesses seek help as Mission-71 closure approaches

During the meeting residents living west of Mission and the 71 brought up concerns including that soundwalls will not be built far enough to the south of the intersection.

For their part, business owners said the closure of Mission will hurt them financially and possibly put them out of business.

Plans call for closing Mission Boulevard at the 71 on June 1 in order to facilitate construction of a bridge that will carry traffic from Mission over the freeway.

The bridge is part of a larger project that will result in the construction of an interchange complete on- and off-ramps to the freeway.

The $40 million project began in September and is expected to be completed by September 2010 resulting in improved traffic circulation in the area.

By closing Mission for 8 to 10 months, the bridge construction will be shortened by about a year and save $3 million to $4 million.

The streets closure was originally planned to go into effect Monday but was rescheduled after business people went before the City Council with their concerns.

Among the issues on the mind of some business people is when environmental studies where completed for the interchange project and what they had to say about the its effects on businesses.

"All of these studies are years out of date," said Thomas Klugman, property manager for the Mission Plaza where many of the concerned businesses people have their establishments.

The studies were probably completed at a time when the economy was robust and a street closure wouldn't have affected business as hard as it would today, he said.

 "We have to look at what we have now,"  Klugman said.

Coming up with a different plan that allows for some the flow of traffic instead of a complete closure is needed, he said.

"Even at a trickle it would be better than having it closed," Klugman said.

Among Klugman's suggestions is for the city to explore the use of more than one shift of construction which could result in speeding up the pace of the project.

HD Supply Repair & Remodel representatives said they've already had a taste of how their store will be affected by the street closure.

A recent Southern California Gas Co. project related to the construction project resulted in the blockage of a driveway leading to the store.

The six-hour closure resulted in a one day 20 percent drop in sales for the business, said George Arredondo, senior director of operations.

He said businesses, especially smaller one, will not survive a street closure that goes for 10 months or more.

Many of the businesses draw customers who are looking for fast service.

"You close down Mission and you close speed and convenience," Arredondo said.

Whether the city can keep Mission Boulevard open is still unknown but it's something that city personnel and consultants are trying to determine, D'Zmura said.

"I'm having them look under every stone," he said.

At the same time the team is working with Caltrans to determine how long the street closure and the start of bridge work can be delayed without losing funding for the construction project.

While answers to those questions are sought other options being investigated including removing a median running along the south side of Mission Boulevard at Curran Place that separates the roadway from the frontage road, D'Zmura said.

It may be possible to remove about 75 feet of the median giving drivers greater access to some of the businesses in the area.