FRAZIERS BOTTOM, W.Va. -- Residents of Fraziers Bottom expected to see a drop in traffic and business with the opening of the new U.S. 35 through Putnam County, but not to the extent that they have experienced.

"We can stand here for hours and no one comes by," said Christine Bennett of Caldwell Greenhouses in Fraziers Bottom.

"[U.S. 35] opened on June 15, and the first two weeks we really didn't see a drop in traffic, because people didn't know how to get on the new road," Bennett said.

Once the road became more well known, business dropped off, Bennett said. "Now people don't know how to get to Fraziers Bottom."

The town is about half a mile from U.S. 35 off Hurricane Creek Road.

"But you wouldn't know it," Bennett said.

There are no markers or signs on U.S. 35 or at the Hurricane Creek exit that indicate where the town is, she said.

"They've left us off the map," she said.

Fraziers Bottom sits along the old U.S. 35 -- now W.Va. 817 -- about a mile from Buffalo.

Bennett has run Caldwell Greenhouse for about 10 years. The store specializes in flowers, organic foods and Amish bulk goods. Charlie Caldwell owns the property, and has run the greenhouse and farm for about 40 years.

Next month, for the first time in six years, Bennett and Caldwell are considering closing the shop for the winter because business is so slow.

Violet Hendrix, owner of Yesteryear Antiques in Fraziers Bottom, plans to do the same. It will be the first time she has closed the store in the winter since she and her husband opened it in 1965.

Hendrix said her business is fairly established in the antiques world and dealers have frequently sought out her shop.

Dealers don't know how to get to the town now, Hendrix said.

The signs on the new U.S. 35 tell drivers the name of the roads that intersect the highway, but not where they lead, she said.

"They don't have them marked," she said. "Even local people are getting lost on it."

Adding to the confusion is the renaming of the old U.S. 35 to W.Va. 817, and the lack of signs informing drivers of the name change, Bennett said.

"We can stand here for hours and no one comes by," said Christine Bennett of Caldwell Greenhouses in Fraziers Bottom.

"[U.S. 35] opened on June 15, and the first two weeks we really didn't see a drop in traffic, because people didn't know how to get on the new road," Bennett said.

Once the road became more well known, business dropped off, Bennett said. "Now people don't know how to get to Fraziers Bottom."

The town is about half a mile from U.S. 35 off Hurricane Creek Road.

"But you wouldn't know it," Bennett said.

There are no markers or signs on U.S. 35 or at the Hurricane Creek exit that indicate where the town is, she said.

"They've left us off the map," she said.

Fraziers Bottom sits along the old U.S. 35 -- now W.Va. 817 -- about a mile from Buffalo.

Bennett has run Caldwell Greenhouse for about 10 years. The store specializes in flowers, organic foods and Amish bulk goods. Charlie Caldwell owns the property, and has run the greenhouse and farm for about 40 years.

Next month, for the first time in six years, Bennett and Caldwell are considering closing the shop for the winter because business is so slow.

Violet Hendrix, owner of Yesteryear Antiques in Fraziers Bottom, plans to do the same. It will be the first time she has closed the store in the winter since she and her husband opened it in 1965.

Hendrix said her business is fairly established in the antiques world and dealers have frequently sought out her shop.

Dealers don't know how to get to the town now, Hendrix said.

The signs on the new U.S. 35 tell drivers the name of the roads that intersect the highway, but not where they lead, she said.

"They don't have them marked," she said. "Even local people are getting lost on it."

Adding to the confusion is the renaming of the old U.S. 35 to W.Va. 817, and the lack of signs informing drivers of the name change, Bennett said.

"Nowhere on that road does it say you are in Fraziers Bottom and on the old U.S. 35," she said.

The problem also goes both ways. Many drivers in Fraziers Bottom don't know how to get to the new highway from the town.

"It does not say anywhere around here how to get to the new U.S. 35," Bennett said.

The state Department of Transportation has put up a blue "Services - Attractions" sign at the Hurricane Creek Road exit off U.S. 35 for business owners to advertise what is available at that exit.

But it will cost about $1,000 for a business owner to put the name of their company on the sign.

"To get your company name on that you need a three-year paid-in-advance contract for $350 a year," Bennett said.

That's in addition to money out of pocket to have the sign made, and about $200 to have it put up, she said.

It's too much money, especially for a small business, Hendrix said.

Hendrix and her husband have decided not to have Yesteryear Antiques put on the service and attraction sign. They plan instead to advertise in a national antique magazine.

"Businesses in the area were thriving, and had a strong customer base, but now no one knows where we are," Bennett said. "I get so upset and so mad at [the DOT] for not thinking it through."

Susie Stover, manager of the 7-Eleven at the Marathon gas station in Fraziers Bottom, said her company plans to advertise on the sign and has high hopes it will pull in drivers from the highway.

The gas station is located directly next to Hurricane Creek Road and less than half a mile from U.S. 35.

Since the opening of the new highway less than six months ago, Stover said sales have dropped by more than half.

"Everyone takes the new road now," she said.

The majority of her customers now are local residents, employees of the Toyota plant in Buffalo and contractors at the John Amos Power Plant outside of Winfield.

"It's a good store and a good location, but they only stop here if they have to," Stover said.

@tag:Reach Veronica Nett at veroni...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5113.