Local businesses warn of short‑term revenue loss during bridge construction; consultants quantify delay costs

Consultants told the council their economic analysis focused on construction‑phase impacts for the 3‑lane bridge alternatives and used a business survey, travel‑delay modeling and industry spending assumptions to estimate local effects. The consulting economist said 42 businesses responded to the survey; the largest share identified as retail (about 32%), followed by food and lodging sectors. "Seventy‑six percent noted daily usage of the Castle Creek Bridge," the presenter said, and 72% of responding businesses reported being "very reliant" on the bridge for customer access.

The team monetized travel delays using USDOT methods and estimated annualized vehicle‑hours of delay on the order of 185,000 vehicle‑hours. That produced annualized user‑cost figures of roughly $14.7 million for a shorter‑duration 3‑lane scenario and about $19.3 million for a longer 3‑lane shifted scenario; the consultant said the difference is primarily driven by construction duration (three vs. four years). The team also estimated construction spending could support a range of full‑time equivalent jobs (model ranges reported) and labor incomes in the model scenarios; they cautioned the higher end of those ranges assumed optimistic local capture rates (5–10% local spend assumed, 60/40 labor/material split of local expenditures).

Consultants also reported a modeled sales‑tax revenue reduction during construction of approximately $300,000 to $700,000 annually, and they said businesses estimated construction could reduce revenues by 20% or more in the worst cases. The economist emphasized these figures reflect construction‑phase impacts only; long‑term operational benefits (or long‑term economic costs) were not modeled.

Why this matters: council members must weigh near‑term economic costs to hospitality and retail businesses during multi‑year construction against long‑term transport or resilience benefits. The consultants recommended using refined, site‑specific design and updated local‑capture assumptions to narrow ranges before committing to a preferred funding strategy.

Provenance: topicintro: {"block_id_start":"SEG 290","block_id_end":"SEG 290","evidence_excerpt":"We were asked to look at the economic, impacts of 3 lane bridge construction."}, topfinish: {"block_id_start":"SEG 416","block_id_end":"SEG 416","evidence_excerpt":"And that's tourism related kind of in a broad sense that includes real estate, accommodation, food industry, etcetera."}