As the water is key for imports and exports on ships, the Key Bridge was a big contributor for many who used it for work.
Now, those on the west side of the former Key Bridge are starting to feel the effects.
"I got family members that live over there, I got friends that live over there, and we use that cause sometimes we don't want to go through the tunnel because we got a phobia of being in the tunnel, but now we got a phobia of crossing the bridges,” said Sean Conyers who lives in Halethorpe.
It's not an ideal feeling to have when it comes to travel to those close to you. Conyers now must find another route to see family and friends.
He's not alone. It's a strain many others have that relied on the Key Bridge for work.
"We got customers on the other side of the bridge we can't get to,” said Stephen Loyd, who lives on the west side of the former Key Bridge.
Not only is this hurting business, but also tugging at his emotions.
"Not to mention the pain I feel in my heart from seeing it because when I grew up, that bridge has always been there,” said Loyd.
As a plumber, making service calls is key. But now he's limited on the areas he can cover.
"For now, the service company I work for, we can't get to Dundalk, we can't get to Essex, Fort Armstead is closed. So we just kind of can't make our service calls like we need to," said Loyd.
While getting to customers is a big problem, getting customers to the businesses is another.
"It's very slow business, very slow business,” said Touseef Ahmed, a mechanic at High Tech Auto Repair in Pasadena. “Maybe one or two customers are coming, but no more.”
A garage that usually is busy now sits bare with only one car. Mechanic Ahmed said it's been the outcome over the past couple of days.
This community is also bracing for the gas expenses that will come along with having to take alternate routes when it comes to work.
Lumber, windows, doors, and everything one would need to build from the ground up. It's what 84 Lumber in Curtis Bay provides to customers on the other side of the water.
"We have about $3 million to $3.5 million worth of business right across the bridge in Sparrows Point and upward,” said Will Helfeldt, the General Manager at 84 Lumber in Curtis Bay.
Deliveries that took 15 to 20 minutes, Helfeldt said, are now taking over an hour.
"That's going to add to the expense and the reason we have to go all the way around the beltway is because we can't go through the tunnel with our commercial trucks,” said Helfeldt.
As the saying goes, time is money. It's all true for Zachary White, who works at 84 Lumber. A 25-minute commute is now over an hour, and with the cost of gas, it's not sustainable.
"It's premium gas, so it's expensive," said White."It's gone up so much. I was paying like two hundred and something dollars a month. It's going to go up to 400, and I have to fill up three times a week. It's just too much.”
He said the only option is transferring to another store.
When it comes down to it, Helfeldt said he worries about the future of the business.
"Am I going to be able to maintain the same service levels? Because, now that we're adding an hour to the logistics, people are accustomed to a different time,” said Helfeldt.
Now, raising the question, will customers stay?
