As Chestertown received word from the State Highway Administration that the April 18 bridge work reducing traffic to one lane has been changed to a dusk to dawn Sunday through Thursday schedule, local business owner J.R. Alfree, wants county residents to understand the nuts and bolts of the economic impact bridge closures have on the county.
Alfree sits on the State Comptroller’s Advisory Board and has been active with them since its inception over a year ago, and recently offered the board statistics showing the local economy’s vulnerabilities.
State Comptroller Peter Franchot personally commended Alfree for “standing up for Kent County small business”.
Alfree attributes the adjusted April schedule as a result of Franchot’s discussion with Transportation Secretary Pete Rahn. Franchot has been an active supporter of Kent County endeavors and has appealed to small business owners to be more politically aggressive to achieve their ends.
Additionally, the State Comptroller’s Office told the owner of the Lemon Leaf Café and JR’s Past-Time Pub that the full closure scheduled for July 18 through August 12, is still under review.
“Everyone has an opinion about the bridge closure and repair and how it should be done,” Alfree says, “but I think it would be good if people looked first at some statistics about Kent County, and our absolute dependency on it being open during the tourist season. Not everyone understands the economic makeup of our county.”
To that end, Alfree asked for help with demographic information from Kent County Economic Development Coordinator Jamie Williams and Kent County Office of Tourism Director Bernadette Bowman.
“Here are a few critical numbers: Maryland’s average unemployment rate is 4.9%. During the winter, Kent County’s unemployment rate is 6.4%, and during the summer, it drops back down to the state average. If you put that next to a national poverty rate average of 11.3% and see that Chestertown’s is 20.3%, we can see how important the summer season is the economic lifeblood of the county. There are also 471 related tourism jobs in Kent County,” Alfree said.
In 2001, $27 million came in as tourist dollars into Kent County. In 2015 it was $55 million. The April through September tourist season represents 66% of the total yearly tourism revenue. Bridge closures during this period would have severe impacts on the county’s economy. Lodging revenue alone is $5.7 million with $283 thousand lodging tax generated to Kent County. 36% of that takes place between July and September.
“Many businesses depend on these critical months not only to make a living but to survive through slow winters. I myself have to make a certain amount to keep the doors open during the winter months. Many businesses are at risk this way,” Alfree said.
Alfree also points out that last year’s Sassafras River repair lasted longer than expected and that he has heard reports of business losses up to 50% suffered during its extended repair work. The detour even took drivers into Delaware.
“Both the Sassafras River Bridge and Chester River Bridge closure appear as separate events because the Sassafras happened last year, but in reality, we’re looking at a slowdown of the north and south corridors during a 12-month period.”
Alfree also points out a sad irony.
“A new state tourism commercial will be coming out soon showcasing Kent County and facets of Chestertown. We have a new A and E District designation and other state-related programs like Main Street, along with revolving loan funds to assist businesses. The State invested in us and now the State will hinder us with poor planning,” he says.
Stephanie Thomas says
The problem with having the repairs done after summer is that school is back in session and some of us that work here in town live right on the other side of the bridge. And our children play sports and there is no way that we will be able to get our children to practices and games because of having to travel all the way around. Trust me I would rather the bridge not be closed permanently those weeks. It is a no win situation all the way around.