One year after construction started on the Great River Bridge, the temporary bridge is no where close to being finished and it's taking a toll on local businesses.

With detours, big trucks and heavy traffic the Great River Bridge has been a bottleneck for years. But the cure has brought its own pain to nearby businesses. Some residents have quit making their usual stop at Westfield businesses like the North Elm Butcher Block.

Co-Owner Dan Puza says, "We used to have 450 to 500 hits on the register and now we're averaging about 67 or between 65 and 70 hits Tuesday through Friday."

The Butcher Block isn't the only placing feeling the pinch from the bridge work. Pilgrim Candle is right in the thick of it. What was once their parking lot is now home to bulldozers and backhoes. Not only that, the road which leads to the store has been ripped up for weeks.

Owner Joe Shibley says, "It's the potential customers that drive by and say oh there's Pilgrim Candle and then they see the construction going on and they just decide to continue traveling so we loose some of that business."

The 3 year project calls for the construction of a new bridge, then the renovation of the old one. But one year after the Governor came to town to kick off the work, even the temporary bridge for construction vehicles hasn't been finished.

Puza says, "There's not a lot of businesses here but there is enough to be concerned about. I mean, we've been a family business that's been around for over 50 years, we've been here since 1947 and to loose it in a matter of months is just crazy it's basically putting us out of business."

There has been some confusion as to whether lanes will be closed on the old bridge during construction.

Mass Highway says they have no plans to restrict traffic on the old bridge until the new span is finished, sometime next year.