Bob Bacon has been suffering every businessman's nightmare for the last year.
Bacon's restaurant, the Jug Handle Inn at Route 73 and Fork Landing Road in Cinnaminson, has a good location and a well-established reputation. But his customers haven't been able to reach him.
His restaurant sits in a $23 million building site where Route 73 is being upgraded and Route 90, a 1.8-mile, six-lane connector between the already existing highway and the Betsy Ross Bridge, is being finished.
A mile-long section of Route 73 was widened through Pennsauken, Maple Shade and Cinnaminson, and the intersection with Fork Landing Road has been reconstructed.
This week, the work will be virtually completed. A dedication ceremony has been scheduled for Tuesday afternoon on Route 90, and transportation officials plan to open the road to traffic in time for that evening's rush hour. But, as New Jersey Department of Transporation workers hurried to put finishing touches on the road last week, Bacon - who has owned the restaurant since 1980 - wondered if business would ever return to normal.
"It's been terrible," he said. "It just about put me out of business."
He said traffic tie-ups discouraged potential luncheon customers. With two of the three entrances to the parking lot closed by construction fencing, dinner customers were also chased away, he said.
"The traffic would be backed up for miles, so people couldn't get in and out of here in an hour for lunch," Bacon said. "That killed the daytime business, and at night, people went to alternative restaurants. Sometimes it didn't pay to be open."
Robert Wagner, Pennsauken's planning director, said Bacon's problems reflected those of the small mix of businesses operating in the construction zone, which is "99 percent developed."
"We were lucky because most of the work where Route 90 crosses Haddonfield Road was rerouting work," he said. "But it didn't do (Route) 73 any good. Anyone using that was in trouble. The Jug Handle Inn had a terrible time."
Route 90 was originally planned in the 1960s to be part of a two-state highway network stretching from the Pulaski Expressway in Northeast Philadelphia, to the bridge, Route 295 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
The bridge was finished in 1974, but plans for the Pulaski and Route 90 were scrapped because of increasing costs and environmental concerns.
An access route eventually was connected to Interstate 95 in Philadelphia. But the Betsy Ross remained a virtual stepsister, used by only 19,615 vehicles a day in 1986, compared to 68,000 on the Tacony-Palmyra.
A shorter version of the highway was included in the $3.2 billion Transportation Trust Fund, created by Gov. Kean in 1984.
By the time construction began in March 1986, accommodations had to be made for heightened environmental concerns. Five viaducts were built over the Pennsauken Creek, the ecologically sensitive home for local waterfowl.
"We had to address the wetlands, so grease traps were used for drainage to catch all the oils and stuff from the roadway before the water emptied into the creek," said Ron Maruca, NJDOT's resident engineer for the Route 90 project.
About 120 employees worked at the site during the height of construction this summer, Maruca said. The number has dwindled to about 30.
"We're doing general cleanup work and landscaping, and we'll also have (soundwall) work that will probably continue into the beginning of November.
"I'd say it looks pretty good, but I'm prejudiced."
Once the road opens, transportation officials hope Route 90 will drain traffic from congested sections of Routes 130 and 73 while encouraging motorists to use the Betsy Ross Bridge instead of the Ben Franklin or Tacony- Palmyra spans.
"We've been anxious to have the connections on the Pennsylvania and New Jersey sides ever since the bridge was put into service," said Ronald Flegel, manager of construction for the Delaware River Port Authority.
"This will help two-state traffic movement of both the trucking industry and individuals using their cars."
The Port Authority so far has paid $6.5 million, including a $4 million ''down payment" in 1986, to cover the state Transportation Department's construction costs. The authority has agreed to pay the Transportation Department an additional $2.5 million if traffic on the bridge increases, said agency spokesman Carlton Read.
"It was a wonderful agreement," he said. "If the usage of the bridge should drop, we would not have to pay in that year. It's kind of unusual, but it makes good sense. The traffic on the bridge is steadily increasing, and we hope it will make a pretty good leap once Route 90 is open."
Wagner said he expects building conversions and new construction once the road is open.
"Properties that abut the Pennsauken Mart, the old Atlantic Thrift and the Stardust Ballroom are moving," he said. "Plans are coming to the planning board for a shopping mall and another 40,000-square-foot building.
"It will be a crapshoot to see how much traffic the highway takes off (Interstate) 295 and (Route)130. The biggest impact will be if people from Philadelphia come to New Jersey rather than the other way around."
New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Hazel Gluck and Port Authority Commissioner Francis Bodine are among those scheduled to participate in the 3 p.m. ribbon-cutting.
Bacon simply hopes that business returns to normal sometime thereafter.
"I'm frustrated right now," he said. "But I sure am hoping things will get better soon."
