Cambridge Impacted by 95 Closure
Cambridge businesses are having a tough time now that Highway 95 north of Council is totally closed. But they have faith in Darin Braun, who is a Cambridge native and whose construction company Braun-Jensen, has been hired by ITD to repair the damage to Highway 95 north of Council. His workers live in Cambridge and so won’t add to the list of people looking for a place to stay.
Blake Loveland, owner of the Sinclair in Cambridge, said the shutdown couldn’t have come at a worse time for him.
“In December I bought Creed Noah’s Real Estate Building. He retired, and I wanted to expand my business - add another pump, provide more parking space for our customers, and put in an RV dump station,” he said.
He said the project is underway and is slated to be finished by June 1st, but his revenue is down 30%, he estimated, because of the road closure.
“One of my employees said that she had to turn people back who were coming from Weiser because they hadn’t seen the sign that said the road was closed.”
The one thing Cambridge has that Council doesn’t, is Highway 71. Loveland said that Hell’s Canyon will soon be holding more bass tournaments and campers will be headed that way, which will help all the businesses in town.
Don Page, who has worked at the Cambridge Farmer’s Supply Coop for 46 years and been manager for 40 years, said the road closure is the longest and most difficult challenge he has faced.
“We do sell gasoline, but the bulk of our business is delivering propane, diesel, and fuel both in our area but in the New Meadows and McCall area as well,” he said.
He said they have a propane plant in New Meadows, which means his driver must take his own pickup and drive up 55 to get to the propane plant, load the truck and then take it where it needs to be delivered.
He said next month is going to be difficult, but they have an obligation to take care of their customers and will continue to do so, no matter what it takes.
Cambridge Lumber owner Jen Van Meer said their business always picks up during the spring, and it was difficult to tell whether the road closure has had any impact.
Frontier Motel owner Nick Loveland said that for a while, during the partial road closure their business may have picked up, and he believes that to be because people were being turned back at the road closure at dark and decided to stay at his motel.
He said that many people would soon be headed for Hells Canyon and that business always picks up then. “We’ve already had several bass tournaments with more to come,” he said. And he takes people down there to float the river and that is always a busy time for him.
Kyle Braun, owner of Gateway Pizza said business does seem a bit slower, but because he has only owned it for a year, it’s difficult to tell what a typical year might look like.
Li, owner of Li’s Chinese Kitchen said his business is very slow.
