The owners of two florist shops are beside themselves with worry with the nearing of Mother’s Day, the second largest holiday for the flower business.
The City of Kinston plans to close off a portion of Queen Street starting Monday. It could be closed possibly through the end of May, depending on weather conditions. The road will be closed to through traffic from East Vernon Avenue to Old Snow Hill Road.
One week would make a difference.
Tim Warren, owner of The Flower Basket, 1312 N. Queen St. in Park View Shopping Center, said he has thousands of dollars worth of flowers being delivered to the store on Monday for Mothers’ Day, which is May 12.
“I cannot believe,” he said, “the way the economy is, they’re going to do this on a major holiday. … That’s our last holiday until Christmas — major holiday.”
Mother’s Day is topped only by Valentine’s Day in sales.
Kathy Howell, owner of Flowers to Go, 1419 N. Queen St., said her business will be easier to access than Warren’s, but she expects the inconvenience may have some people heading elsewhere for flowers.
“Of course it’s going to affect all of us,” she said, “… Business is already bad. The floral industry has taken a hit.”
The N.C. Department of Transportation placed signs up last week alerting drivers about the closing. The city hand-delivered notices to businesses this week, Steve Miller, assistant director of Kinston’s Public Services, said.
Warren said he got a letter in the mail Thursday, while Howell said on Friday she hadn’t received any notice. They both said they learned of the closing from the NCDOT sign.
Miller said about 1,000 feet of water line is being replaced from East Highland Avenue to Summit Avenue. The existing lines, more than 50 years old, experienced leaks a few months back and their condition warranted replacing them, he said.
“If things go well,” Miller said, “hopefully, we’ll be done early.”
The detour route will take motorists from East Vernon Avenue to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to East Highland Avenue and back to Queen Street from Old Snow Hill Road.
Warren said he’s concerned mostly about losing out-of-county walk-in traffic from visitors at Lenoir Memorial Hospital.
“It’s going to cut all of our walk-in traffic, I’m pretty sure,” he said. “… I just hope and pray they don’t cut the water off or I’ll have to shut my door.”
Brian Lucas, city engineer, said traffic will be allowed from Old Snow Hill Road to Emma Webb Road to access businesses and residences. But no traffic will be allowed from Emma Webb Road to Summit Avenue.
Drivers can take North Herritage Street from Vernon Avenue towards LMH and turn right on either Glenwood Avenue or West Highland Avenue to get to the back of Park View Shopping Center on Queens Road.
Businesses and residences on the east side of Queen Street can be accessed from North Independence Street to Wilson Avenue or East Highland Avenue, then McAdoo Street or to Summit Avenue, then Virginia Avenue.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.
Breakout box:
What: Queen Street closure
When: Monday through May 31, depending on weather
Where: East Vernon Avenue to Old Snow Hill Road
For real-time travel information at any time, call 511, visit ncdot.gov/travel, follow NCDOT on Twitter at ncdot.gov/travel/twitter or access NCDOT Mobile by typing “m.ncdot.gov” into the browser of your smartphone