Carthage businesses struggle with Spire construction
CARTHAGE, Mo. — Road construction around the Carthage square is making it difficult to get to nearby businesses.
Spire is replacing most of the gas lines throughout town, and today workers closed off multiple entrances and exits to the square throughout the day. In fact, two sides were closed just this morning, Thursday, and that’s on top of separate construction going on at the courthouse, which has closed off several parking spots. Many businesses on the square are working to keep their customers updated, usually through social media, about how they can get to the storefronts.
The city administrator says this issue is currently one of the biggest complaints city hall hears from citizens, but Spire continues to stay in contact with city staff as best it can.
“They do communicate with us. We do kind of know where they’re going to be, but we really don’t have a say where they’re going to be. And, so, sometimes it makes travel around town very difficult,” said Greg Dagnan, Carthage City Administrator.
“We’re grateful for the new infrastructure. We, as merchants, just have to find a way to continue to encourage our customers to maybe take the scenic route to our storefronts. Shopping our online stores. A lot of the merchants around the square do have an online presence,” said Ed Grundy, Carthage Hardware owner.
Carthage Hardware has even offered fellow businesses on the square their entrance at the back if they find it difficult to get to their own.
We reached out to Spire for more information on the project. They say providing safe and reliable energy is always the top priority, and said, “Replacing aging infrastructure through pipeline replacement is critical in upgrading service and making natural gas an even more energy efficient option for our customers.”
According to an informational website Spire sent us, each portion of the replacement project can take anywhere from three weeks to sixth months, and it depends on each individual spot.
