One week into a project that PennDOT says is expected to be completed by Nov. 20 – 208 days away – and Frog’s Hollow Restaurant & Tavern has already seen a hit to its business.
But although the dayshift has taken a significant hit business-wise so far, the evening crowd has remained relatively the same so far, perhaps just a tad slower, tavern manager Amanda Gonzalez told LebTown in an interview Friday.
Gonzalez has been manager of the tavern for seven years.
Work began Monday, April 22, on the replacement of the Route 72 bridge in Frog’s Hollow over the Swatara Creek.
Frog’s Hollow Restaurant & Tavern is located at 2271 State Route 72, just south of the bridge. The restaurant, along with Offroad Motorsports & Cycle Sales located north of the bridge, are the two businesses closest to the project, which will see the replacement of a two-span arch bridge built in 1930. LebTown first reported on the planned overhaul in March 2021.
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Traffic has been an issue for the project so far. Despite signs installed by PennDOT up and down the corridor, several tractor-trailers were observed making U-turns during LebTown’s brief visit to the site on Wednesday. PennDOT said Thursday that it was evaluating the situation at the project to determine if more signage is needed and how it can be most effective.
Read More: PennDOT says it’s evaluating if more signage is needed for bridge project
Gonzalez said that there’s been a lot of traffic in that area because people aren’t heeding the signs posted some six miles prior to the road closure, towards Lebanon.
“There’s been tons of truck traffic,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said that when her husband was working at the tavern the other day, he ended up basically filling a role as a traffic control officer.
“He was directing trucks into the parking lot to turn around after they got to the top of that hill and there was nowhere to go,” said Gonzalez.
Frog’s Hollow had also recently redone its pavement, which is now taking a beating and bearing the brunt when northbound truck traffic realizes far too late that the bridge ahead is impassable and the only option is to turn around.
“We spent a lot of money for them to just be driving trucks through it all day,” said Gonzalez, who has already noticed wear and tear on the new pavement from the added traffic.
Frog’s Hollow Restaurant & Tavern continues to operate as usual – it’s open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday – and despite the inconvenience of slightly increased travel time to reach the eatery, Gonzalez said patrons are toughing it out and coming to support them.
“We just want everybody to know we are still open for business and we’ll be happy to have them,” she said.
Frog’s Hollow posts daily specials on its Facebook page, a nice reward for any locals looking for a great meal without breaking the bank – think 75¢ wings or Taco Tuesdays – and a chance to support a local business that is navigating a difficult situation.
The project now has one week down, with another two dozen or more weeks to go.
PennDOT hasn’t said so far whether the bridge might be able to reopen prior to the entire project being considered complete, presumably in November. Final asphalt paving will occur next spring.
“That’s a long time for a business to be affected,” said Gonzalez.
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