Stores Hurt by Dunster Street Closing

The barricade placed on Dunster St. as part of the MBTA construction is hurting business on the block, store owners and managers said last week.

Officials at the Perini Corporation, the contractor building the Square's new subway station, said last week that the barricade was put in place while workers destroy the temporary station built while the permanent site was constructed off Church St.

Six to Go

According to Perini Project Engineer Paul Wheeler, the road block, which was put up two weeks ago, will remain on Dunster St. for six more weeks.

Local businessmen said that the barricade has reduced access to the block by reducing available parking and making pedestrian traffic more difficult.

"Foot traffic, students walking around can't find us," said Lucy Tashijan, manager of Rogers', a woman's clothing store. "It's very difficult to maintain business."

Out-of-Towners

Because Dunster St. is now open to two-way traffic, parking spaces on the east side of the block have been removed. Shopkeepers said that customers from outside of Cambridge are less likely to shop there.

"Automobiles from out of town no longer come down," said Tashijan.

Collette Snodgrass, manager of the Cambridge Shop, said, "We've lost the Belmont, Arlington, and Winchester customers."

Managers also said that truck traffic on the block is more difficult. "I have trouble with deliveries," said 33 Dunster St. manager Bob Lenson. "Trucks don't want to come because they can't turn around in the street."

Scream

Several store managers said the problem has not seriously affected their business. "Dunster St. is the main route for foot traffic from the Yard to the River Houses," said Jessica Leahy of Steve Herrell's Ice Cream. "When people want ice cream, they'll climb over the barricades."