Fraziers Bottom businesses ponder impact of new U.S. 35
Customers at Tammy's Country Kitchen in Fraziers Bottom gather for a meal Friday afternoon. The local restaurant is one of several businesses along the old U.S. 35 that connects Interstate 64 to Columbus, Ohio.
Business is good for many Fraziers Bottom residents, but some are wondering how long it will last once the new U.S. 35 opens.
FRAZIERS BOTTOM -- Business is good for many Fraziers Bottom residents, but some are wondering how long it will last once the new U.S. 35 opens.
The four-lane road is scheduled to open next week. It spans 14 miles and will connect Interstate 64 at the Crooked Creek exit to the Buffalo Bridge, diverting traffic from the old U.S. 35 that runs through Winfield and Fraziers Bottom.
"I'm not too worried about it," Frank Frazier said.
Frazier is the owner of Memory Shop Antiques and Fraziers Barber Shop along the old U.S. 35 in Fraziers Bottom.
He estimates about half of his costumers at the antique store are from out of state.
His business, Frazier said, is fairly established in the antiques world and most of his customers are dealers who already know of his location.
Violet Hendrix, owner of Yesteryear Antiques in Fraziers Bottom, the other antique store along U.S. 35, isn't as confident.
"You just can't tell. Nobody else can either," Hendrix said.
The majority of her customers also are from out of state, she said.
Hendrix said she gets a good mix of regular customers and those who drive by and see the shop.
"It might actually help," she said. "People don't like to stop when there's a tractor trailer [or another car] on your tail."
Hendrix has owned Yesteryear Antiques since 1965. She said her business also is fairly established in the antiques world and has a number of dealers who frequent her shop, but she's worried about how accessible her shop will be once the new highway opens.
"The question is how convenient is it going to be to get on and off that road," she said.
Yesteryear antiques is about a mile from the Buffalo Bridge, where the new U.S. 35 and old highway will connect.
The new U.S. 35 will pull the majority of the heavy truck and trailer traffic off the old U.S. 35, leaving the old U.S. 35 -- which will be renamed U.S. 817 -- for local traffic.
Once in Buffalo, residents coming across the Buffalo Bridge can merge onto either old U.S. 35/U.S. 817 or the new U.S. 35 toward I-64.
Traffic onto U.S. 35 from I-64 will merge either onto the old two-lane U.S. 35 toward Point Pleasant or move across the Buffalo Bridge.
Hendrix said business will mostly likely slow down once the road opens, but she thinks she'll still get enough traffic to remain open.
"A lot of people that like to antique like to travel down back roads," she said.
Tammy Cowan, owner of Tammy's Country Kitchen also is not too worried about losing customers once the highway opens.
The majority of her customers are locals, Cowan said. She estimates about 10 percent of her business comes from out of state.
"I really don't think it's going to affect me," she said. "If anything, it might help with people coming from Teays Valley."
FRAZIERS BOTTOM -- Business is good for many Fraziers Bottom residents, but some are wondering how long it will last once the new U.S. 35 opens.
The four-lane road is scheduled to open next week. It spans 14 miles and will connect Interstate 64 at the Crooked Creek exit to the Buffalo Bridge, diverting traffic from the old U.S. 35 that runs through Winfield and Fraziers Bottom.
"I'm not too worried about it," Frank Frazier said.
Frazier is the owner of Memory Shop Antiques and Fraziers Barber Shop along the old U.S. 35 in Fraziers Bottom.
He estimates about half of his costumers at the antique store are from out of state.
His business, Frazier said, is fairly established in the antiques world and most of his customers are dealers who already know of his location.
Violet Hendrix, owner of Yesteryear Antiques in Fraziers Bottom, the other antique store along U.S. 35, isn't as confident.
"You just can't tell. Nobody else can either," Hendrix said.
The majority of her customers also are from out of state, she said.
Hendrix said she gets a good mix of regular customers and those who drive by and see the shop.
"It might actually help," she said. "People don't like to stop when there's a tractor trailer [or another car] on your tail."
Hendrix has owned Yesteryear Antiques since 1965. She said her business also is fairly established in the antiques world and has a number of dealers who frequent her shop, but she's worried about how accessible her shop will be once the new highway opens.
"The question is how convenient is it going to be to get on and off that road," she said.
Yesteryear antiques is about a mile from the Buffalo Bridge, where the new U.S. 35 and old highway will connect.
The new U.S. 35 will pull the majority of the heavy truck and trailer traffic off the old U.S. 35, leaving the old U.S. 35 -- which will be renamed U.S. 817 -- for local traffic.
Once in Buffalo, residents coming across the Buffalo Bridge can merge onto either old U.S. 35/U.S. 817 or the new U.S. 35 toward I-64.
Traffic onto U.S. 35 from I-64 will merge either onto the old two-lane U.S. 35 toward Point Pleasant or move across the Buffalo Bridge.
Hendrix said business will mostly likely slow down once the road opens, but she thinks she'll still get enough traffic to remain open.
"A lot of people that like to antique like to travel down back roads," she said.
Tammy Cowan, owner of Tammy's Country Kitchen also is not too worried about losing customers once the highway opens.
The majority of her customers are locals, Cowan said. She estimates about 10 percent of her business comes from out of state.
"I really don't think it's going to affect me," she said. "If anything, it might help with people coming from Teays Valley."
Cowan has operated Tammy's Country Kitchen for about a year and half. The restaurant has been in business since 2001, she said.
"The [new highway] definitely needs to be done," Cowan said. "It'll get traffic off of this little two-lane road."
While she does not believe the new highway will affect her business, Cowan is concerned about Country Roads Truck Stop.
The truck stop is located less than a mile from the Buffalo Bridge.
"It'll hurt them terribly," she said.
How the truck stop fares depends on how easy it is for traffic and tractor trailers to get off at the Buffalo exit and onto the old U.S. 35.
Gerry Tanner, a trucker from Lynchburg, Va., was parked at the Cross Roads Truck Stop Friday afternoon working on his truck.
He's been driving through the area on and off for about 10 years.
Tanner said he stops at the Fraziers Bottom truck stop only when he needs something or wants to sleep.
He was unsure how often he would frequent the gas station once the new highway opened.
"It all just depends on what else is available," he said.
Tanner said if he takes the bypass he misses the truck stop in Teays Valley, so the Fraziers Bottom stop is fairly convenient.
Several other truckers who stopped off at the Fraziers Bottom gas station Friday agreed.
Tanner said the four-lane road will be a welcome change once it opens.
"There's nowhere to go if someone gets in an accident," he said. "Four lanes are always better than two."
Like the majority of truck drivers on U.S. 35, he drives through Putnam County to and from Columbus, Ohio.
The 14-mile stretch of roadway scheduled to open next week is part of a larger project to build 34 miles of road connecting Henderson, Mason County, to I-64, providing a direct link to Columbus.
Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.
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