CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. — The group Charles Town Now is rolling out the red carpet for remote workers and others ahead of a planned three-month detour that will affect thousands of area commuters on Rt. 340 near Harpers Ferry.
It’s called “Embrace your Third Place” according to Liz Cook of Charles Town Now.
“We really have to make lemonades out of lemons,” Cook tells the Panhandle News Network.
“Third Place is basically the place where you spend your time outside your home and your work. It’s the place you don’t have to be. It’s the place you enjoy being. It’s where you connect, it’s where you form relationships,” she says. “It’s the place you feel ‘at home’ not at home.”
Charles Town Now is encouraging displaced commuters to find their “third place” close to home.
“Since people might be here more than they were before,” Cook says, they can reconnect with their city.”
She says businesses in the city are working out how they can welcome folks to their “third place.” She says there are already great eateries and places to hang out downtown, “We’re compiling a list, and our businesses are trying to figure out how they can offer a space to people,” she says.
One such location is Corner Connection off East Washington Street in Charles Town. “It’s actually a co-working space,” Cook says. “She’s got plenty of space for people to (work remotely)” then walk down the street to get lunch
“We have a lot of businesses that are offering the ability (for people) to come in with their laptop, work a little bit, have some lunch, and be able to be in a space where they’re not home.”
The three-months-long detour will affect traffic on Rt. 340 just outside Harpers Ferry for rock stabilization project beginning September 12th.
Due to the type of construction, this project includes a planned detour, starting on September 12, 2023. The detour route is explained one-page summary here.
On May 1, 2023, West Virginia Department of Transportation (WVDOT) awarded a contract to Triton Construction, Inc. for the work to stabilize a rockslide-prone section of mountain high above US 340 near Harper’s Ferry.
A posted detour around the project area during work will be WV 9 and Virginia SR 9 and Virginia SR 671. Work is being scheduled after Memorial Day and before Christmas to lessen the impact on the traveling public, according to the post from the WVDOH.
More info on Charles Town Now social media pages.
Learn more about the detour here:
As 3-Month Long Rt. 340 Detour Approaches, WVDOH Posts Update