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Corona business leaders say short notice McKinley closure hurt holiday sales; city cites agency approvals
Summary
Business owners and Corona Chamber leaders told the City Council that a recent closure at the McKinley work zone came with little advance notice and cost retailers holiday revenue. City staff said late notifications were driven by coordination and permit approvals with Caltrans and railroad authorities.
At the Corona City Council's final meeting of 2024, local business leaders told elected officials that a recent closure at the McKinley construction zone came with little advance notice and cost retailers critical holiday sales.
Grace Clark, a Corona-based certified public accountant and member of the Corona Chamber of Commerce board, said the first some business owners learned of the closure was “just briefly before it was set to close,” when the chamber CEO saw a sign on the freeway. “We were told that to reschedule it would be prohibitive to the city with an increasing cost of $1,000,000 to $2,000,000,” Clark said. “You closed down many retail businesses two weeks before Christmas and many of these businesses are small businesses that will not recoup the cost.”
Dean Safe, a Corona business owner and past chair of the chamber's board, said the chamber’s CEO randomly called four businesses in the area and learned they were notified only three days before the closure. “They lost thousands of dollars in potential sales during this important holiday weekend,” Safe said, adding that Costco’s weekend losses were “in six figures” as reported to the chamber. He urged the city to notify business operators — not only property owners — earlier and work with the Corona Chamber on future notifications.
Bobby Spiegel, chief executive officer of the Corona Chamber of Commerce, said he had discussed the timing with Walsh Construction, the contractor, and that a ring road opened over the weekend had helped relieve traffic by letting vehicles cross without waiting for trains. Spiegel said his three-page letter to the council documents the chamber’s frustration with notification timing and that the chamber wants to help improve communication going forward.
City staff acknowledged the timing was far from ideal. A staff member identified in the meeting as Sivad said the work required coordination with multiple agencies and that “we had to try to get a lot of the other agencies to get their approval, Caltrans being one of them.” He said the city provided notice “as early as Tuesday or Wednesday of last week” but cited back-and-forth with Caltrans, BNSF and permit processes that delayed public notification.
Council members who spoke said they were frustrated by the short notice and voiced regret at the impact on small retailers. Council member Jackie Casillas and others praised staff, the police department and public works for directing traffic and managing the closure effectively, but said they wished mitigation and outreach had been better before the closure took place.
Spiegel and other speakers praised recent operational steps — including the ring road — that have begun to reduce congestion, and urged continued coordination with the chamber to improve business notifications in future closures.
The discussion took place during the council’s public-comment period; no formal Council action or vote was taken on the closure itself at the meeting. Several council members indicated they would follow up with staff and Walsh Construction to seek improved advance notice and to strengthen business outreach for future closures.
