N. Clark Judd

As construction of Con Edison's highvoltage, underground power line continues straight through the heart of Riverdale, so do the headaches.

The contractor building the power line, Felix Associates, has been working for the past few weeks in several-block patches of Riverdale Avenue just south of Henry Hudson Parkway, between West 231st and West 238th streets. Several weeks ago, they began work on a manhole at West 225th Street, and expected last week to begin running pipe north from West 225th to West 230th streets, along Broadway.

As Felix continues work on the power line, which will run from Yonkers to Manhattan, workers are tearing up one of Riverdale's busiest commercial corridors - and business owners are feeling the pinch.

"My clients are all 15 to 20 minutes late because they have to keep circling and circling," said Suzanne Axelbank, who runs a hair salon on West 238th Street just around the corner from Riverdale Avenue. "So, for me, it's been a very big deal."

Con Edison has taken the six parking spots closest to Riverdale Avenue on the north side of West 238th Street - directly across the street from Ms. Axelbank's shop - to store construction materials and equipment. Currently, according to a recent e-mail from Con Edison's director of Bronx public affairs, Eric Soto, three of six spaces are in use and the other three will be used shortly.

Con Edison construction has also claimed almost the entire west side of Riverdale Avenue between West 231st and West 230th streets. Earlier this month, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz took issue with that. Initially, people were being ticketed for parking there, though the contractor had not posted "no parking" signs. Instead, the contractor strategically placed duct tape over times listed on existing signs that originally explained when there was to be no parking due to street sweeping. Those have since been replaced with more obvious signs.