Petersburg businesses say they had one-day’s notice of road closure on West Bank Street for Brickhouse Run Tunnel repairs

PETERSBURG, Va. (WRIC) -- Some businesses in Petersburg have recovered since flooding ripped through the city in July, but now they're facing another problem. The city is making repairs to the Brickhouse Run Tunnel that was damaged in the flooding, allowing minimal traffic and making parking in the area impossible.

There's only a single lane for cars to drive west on West Bank Street, and parking on the street has been prohibited.

"A few spaces will be available for short-term unloading only," the city said in a letter to residents.

The city said the road closure is necessary for safety purposes, but others say these repairs should've been made sooner.  

The morning after the flooding on July 15, Erhman Tapestry's storefront on Bank Street was full of mud and water -- but they were able to bounce back.

“Everything got cleaned up and things are back to normal," said U.S. branch manager Angie Bechtold.

Bechtold said she was back in her groove, until last week when a neighboring business sent her the letter from the city saying the road would be partially closing the next day. 

“So, we were notified on the 5^th, and it happened on the 6^th," Bechtold said. "So, not a lot of time to really figure it out. At this point we’re just going day by day.”

She said the lack of parking impacts business since they heavily rely on deliveries of product.

"We do have walk-in customers... there is no place for the customers to park," she said.

The city is working with engineers to design a "new, more resilient tunnel and roadway" and will use $7 million in grant funding from the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. 

Erhman Tapestry, still armed with sandbags at the door, has been in its storefront since 2017. It was in 2021 that Bechtold started worrying about the tunnel because of a gaping hole where the Department of Motor Vehicles used to be directly across the street from the store. 

She’s glad the problem is being addressed. 

“I think a lot of the infrastructure is just...needs a real revamp,” she said. 

Repairs are expected to take months so it's unclear how long the road closure will last. 

The city is also still under the state of emergency that was issued during the July flooding.