A Boon To Local Businesses

Route 7’s numerous businesses have endured endless trials over the course of expansion on Wilton’s largest thoroughfare.

They have dealt with rubble piled in front of their doors or parking lots, signs obscuring their storefronts from view, and construction cones standing in formation like an orange army. As one shopkeeper said, “It’s a battlefield out there.”

However, optimists are looking toward a possible finish date in October. It’s been a long road, no pun intended, for many of these business-owners, most of whom have suffered from lost revenue and myriad construction-related headaches for years.

Steven Francia owns Wilton Deli, the sort of business that relies on walk-in traffic and that is most affected by the construction. After all, if you are simply craving a Red Bull or a bag of Fritos, you might wait until you get to a clearer patch of road and pull into any of the gas stations or delis on the Norwalk border to grab your snack. Francia said that, since the construction began, he sees customers that he used to serve twice a week coming in for their lunches twice a month.

“They have a half-hour break, they can’t sit in traffic," Frania explained. "They tell me, ‘Steve, I don’t come out on Route 7,’ they find it easier to take the back roads and avoid the mess."

Wilton Nail Spa is in the heart of the construction across from Town Hall. Owner Melissa Lee acknowledged that the construction has hurt her business and that many of her ‘regulars’ now avoid Route 7 altogether. She noted that there are other nail salons on Wilton’s back roads and that many of her former customers may be stopping there to avoid the hassle the construction causes.

“I can’t give a percentage of people who aren’t coming, but many people say they are annoyed by the traffic,” Lee said.

Dermage, an aesthetic center and spa, isn’t the type of business that has suffered immensely from the traffic problems, since 80 percent of their business is appointment-based. But they haven't been immune, either.

“A lot of clients tell us that they don’t take this strip of Route 7 unless they are coming to see us," said owner David Tortorelli. "They take Seeley Road instead. They try to avoid this area.”

Obviously, Route 7 is on Tortorelli’s commute and he thinks the road is much better than it has ever been. “They have made a lot of progress,” he said.

“It has affected our business, for sure,” said Wilton Jewelers owner Howard Robinson. “We’re willing to deal with that because at the end it’s going to be that much nicer and that much better for business.”

“All I have to say is, ‘ Thank God for that light,'” Kellie Robinson piped in, referring to the traffic light that allows people to enter Crossways Plaza without fighting traffic.

“If we didn’t have that, I think things would have been much worse for us,” her husband added.

Each day, traffic along Route 7 eases a bit as small pieces of construction are completed. If you have been avoiding Route 7, maybe it’s time to try the updated road and visit some of its merchants–they’ve missed you.