Bring on 2-way traffic

Warwick Beacon ·

You would expect that people in the travel business would know how to get to work…and they do. But the salon that shares the building with Global Excellence in Apponaug doesn’t want their customers to travel to Timbuktu to get a perm.

That’s stretching it. Some Wavy Daisy clientele, however, figure the salon has gone out of business because they can see the establishment but can’t get there.

“We joked with our clients that you need an ATV to get here,” said Allyson Dosreis, who owns the salon with Donna Morin and Rachel Pascone-Piete. An ATV might have worked, but after Nov. 1 access to the building from Veterans Memorial Drive was eliminated. The drive that is one way westbound is projected to open to two-way traffic Nov. 22 in the next phase of the Apponaug Circulator project. A divider runs down the middle of the road and an access was eliminated when curbing was installed and the eastbound portion of the drive paved. Traffic to the area was detoured to take Spruce Street on the opposite side of the village next to the Post Office. From there it’s a circuitous route through a residential neighborhood to reach Wavy Daisy Salon or Global Excellence.

Dosreis said she and her partners called all their clients to let them know of the new route. Even so, some have called to report they thought they had gone out of business. Overall, business has taken a dip, as clients have chosen to avoid Apponaug entirely.

“People don’t want to come through the village,” she said. People aren’t calling for appointments.

Adding to the confusion, she said, are signs that offer different dates on when the westbound lane will open. Dosreis said one sign had the lane opening Tuesday and another said Nov. 21. It’s neither date.

Two-way traffic on that section of Post Road between Williams Corner and the roundabout at the Veterans Memorial Drive intersection opened yesterday. Two-way traffic on the drive in front of the salon is scheduled to open Nov. 21, Department of Transportation spokesman Charles St. Martin said yesterday.

“Whenever there is construction, we understand this creates hardships for small businesses. The department has been able to accelerate opening the Veterans Memorial Drive by nearly two weeks. Originally, RIDOT had targeted late November for establishing two-way traffic on Veterans Memorial Drive.

“We expect that by next Tuesday, November 22, we will open the road to two-way traffic. This will carry the majority of traffic passing through Apponaug, and as a result, this business owner can expect increased traffic by her store,” reads a statement from St. Martin.

The people at Global Excellence say they haven’t been as severely impacted because they aren’t dependent on walk-ins. But they had their opinions of the merry-go-round.

“It’s like a surprise every day when we come to work,” said Becky Valois. Her co-worker, Jan Croddy, likened the experience to Russian roulette. She noted a fire truck tried to head east on Veterans Memorial Drive only to encounter a phalanx of barrels and other obstructions on approaching the roundabout.

“If the fire department doesn’t get it, what about the general public?” she asked.

“We take it day by day and see what happens,” said co-owner of the travel agency, Diana Plante.

Morin at the salon thinks the new traffic system, which won’t be fully completed until about this time next year, has already improved flow at certain times of the day. Commuter hours still bring congestion.

“I think it was fine just the way it was,” said Morin.

The work hasn’t made it easy.

“There’s a hair salon on every corner,” she said. “How do you compete?”

St. Martin pointed out the new Veterans Memorial Drive has a center median to improve safety and reduce congestion with two-way traffic. Motorists will be able to use roundabouts to reverse direction if they need to do so to reach their destination instead of making left turns. In order to finalize construction of Veterans Memorial Drive in front of Wavy Daisy, the median was completed earlier this month as well as final paving of that section of road.