AVON, Ohio — As Avon attempts to accommodate rapid growth in the city, a longtime family farm market said construction season has been interfering with its business season.
A multi-year, $14 million project is targeting congestion along the booming commercial corridor near Center Road (SR 83) and Detroit Road (SR 254). The construction includes road widening, additional through and turn lanes and traffic signal upgrades.
Jay Pickering’s family established a farm along Detroit Road in the mid-1800s.
"My great-great-grandfather kept this chunk,” Pickering said, pointing out the 14-acre farm currently growing peppers, tomatoes and corn. “He had a lot of acreage here. It went way over almost to Chester Road and way out here.”
More than 175 years later, the farm is smaller in its current location but has grown into Pickering Hill Farms. The farm market and seasonal destination are open from May through Halloween.
"I’m fifth generation, and I’m fortunate my son is sixth generation,” said Pickering.
While generations of Pickerings have been rooted in the area, Avon has been growing around them.
"Everybody that grew up here knew it was going to happen at some point. Just [not] when was it going to happen,” Pickering said.
Commercial development has been booming near the SR 83 exit from I-90 in recent years. The city said it’s been working with ODOT for around seven years to address growing traffic in the area.
Pickering said he was made aware of the project when the city identified parts of his property that it would need to acquire through eminent domain. But he said it was not clear how much the construction would impact his business.
"I’m just so surprised that nobody came up and said, ‘Here’s what we’re doing. Anything we can do to help out?’ Not a thing,” he said.
He said orange barrels blocked the traffic lane nearest to the market’s entrance in early April. The family began tracking how many days the closure was in effect without visible work happening at the site.
"We were keeping a count. It was 89 days it was blocked before the first time that it would’ve made sense to block it,” he said.
The market began counting the days on a letter board below its business sign. Work recently started on the stretch of road, but the market continued its display. On Tuesday, the sign read, “Mayor Jensen, 103 days without construction.”
Pickering said that while his business entrance is open, the lane closure has been driving away customers.
"We were down by 1,000 customers in June,” he said. “It’s tough because we’re trying to justify being a full-time operation. We have employees, and my son and this is like a dead year.”
Avon Mayor Bryan Jensen said it was necessary to close the lane for the duration of construction as a safety measure.
"They want something that we can’t do,” Jensen said. “When it comes to safety, we can’t move those barrels; we can’t make it less safe for the people that are working there over the convenience of getting into their business.”
He explained similar lane closures have been in effect on all sides of the SR 83/SR 254, per safety protocols.
The mayor said when the project is complete by this fall, he expects it to benefit the entire area, including businesses like Pickering Hill Farms.
"They’re not going to be putting banners up for me next year when the roads open, but hopefully their business will thrive again and be back to where it was,” he said.
Pickering said the construction has been a significant setback for the small business, cutting into the small window they have to make a profit.
"It’s just very disappointing. We’re fortunate that we have a lot of customers that are used to coming, they come back over and over again. But it’s the new ones we’re missing. We want to grow every year,” he said.
The project is slated to wrap up in October, but Jensen said it’s currently ahead of schedule.
You can find more details about the construction and updates on the project by clicking HERE.
Catherine Ross is the Lorain County reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow her on X @CatherineRossTV, on Facebook CatherineRossTV or email her at Catherine.Ross@wews.com.
