At least that's what a handful of merchants along Santa Cruz Avenue asked for at a meeting with the town last week. Town staff appeared receptive to the idea, but noted that such a move would not happen without nearby residents being talked to, and that the town council has the final say.

"I know you guys have to do [the streetwork], but after two years of this and the economy, you're killing us," said Architect's Interior owner Kurt Useldinger. "Feel my pain."

As they've done all year, merchants insisted that the disruptive streetwork and timed limits on street parking are driving customers out of town during an already flagging economy.

Ginger Rowe of Time Out Clothing reported that sales plummeted 50 percent whenever the town did streetwork directly in front of her store and that it went down 30 percent when the work was down the street.

Adrienne's clothing store essentially lost an entire quarter of sales the last time work was done in front of the store, said manager Jennifer Wong.

Supporting the idea of 24-hour work in 2005, Wong said it was important for residents to meet merchants halfway in making compromises.

"Honestly, nobody's going to win in this situation. Why not have it fair all around?" she said.

To better accommodate merchants, the town had planned on working 4 to 10 a.m. on certain weeks over the summer, but received complaints from three or four residents as soon as it began, said Parks and Public Works Director John Curtis.

"Much as we wanted to, it was a failure," he said. At the same time, Curtis plans to study the idea suggested by merchants and to eventually forward a recommendation to the town council as to how to proceed.

"We wanted to work as many hours as possible, but we didn't think about 24 hours," Curtis said. "It's certainly worth looking into."

Initially, the public works department had proposed relining sewer lines underneath Santa Cruz Avenue in January 2004, then moving on to sidewalk work on Main Street from March through May. This would be followed by the resurfacing of Santa Cruz Avenue throughout summer 2004. Finally, the town would resurface and repave Main Street during summer 2005.

But merchants said they needed more than a couple months' break between projects to win back their customers' trust that streetwork won't go on forever.

"Why not give the merchants a chance to breathe?" asked Useldinger. He proposed that the town halt construction for one year, during which time merchants should meet with town officials, landlords and all other parties involved and devise a plan in anticipation of accelerated work the following year. "That's something that excites me," he said.

In addition to postponing streetwork, merchants pleaded for the police department to stop handing out parking citations to people who exceed the two-hour parking limit, particularly during the holiday shopping season, and asked that nearby residential streets be made available for public parking again.

Merchants did not object to Curtis' proposal that the relining of sewer lines proceed in 2004 regardless of whether the rest of the work is put off for one year. The underground work is not a highly disruptive procedure, Curtis said.

The streetwork is funded by bond money issued through the town's redevelopment agency. While the town is supposed to make a "good faith effort" to use the money by August 2005, Redevelopment Manager Marty Woodworth said it's possible to extend that deadline six to 12 months.

The town has scheduled a second meeting with anyone who is interested in this issue for Oct. 10 from 7 to 8 a.m.