Overall, 63 percent of those who took a Smithfield-Selma Chamber of Commerce survey prefer tearing out the bridge to make replacement quicker. But business owners in downtown and West Smithfield, fearing a loss of business, largely want to keep two lanes of the bridge open during construction.

"Most people were looking at what's best for them personally," Chamber President Rick Childrey said. "People who are outside of town want it done as quickly as possible."

The chamber likely won't take a position on the issue but will pass along the survey results to the Town Council and N.C. Department of Transportation.

The chamber will work hard to promote businesses that stand to suffer from the bridge replacement, Childrey said. "We want to help whoever's affected," he said. "We are very concerned about the impact on businesses in West Smithfield and downtown. The impact on people coming to work is important too."

While retailers and service industries in downtown and West Smithfield strongly favor keeping the bridge open, professionals and government employees downtown mostly prefer closing the bridge. Employees were more likely than business owners to prefer closing the bridge.

Chris Johnson, head of the Downtown Smithfield Development Corp., said decision makers should consider the perspective of those who took the survey. Many likely support closing the bridge because it would be quicker and cheaper, without thinking about the effect on business, he said.

"I would hope that they would take the filtration of where the surveys come from," Johnson said.

The chamber sent the survey to 900 members, and 23 percent returned it. It was done anonymously, but many of those who responded left comments. Here's a sampling:

• "The death knell will be sounded for businesses that area already hanging by a thread, i.e. Kmart, Whitley Grocery, Roses, etc."

• "Putting all of the bridge traffic onto the Booker Dairy extension at the middle school and high school and routing them through Second and Third streets just doesn't make sense."

• "I feel the traffic congestion with option 1 [keeping bridge open] will be as worse as the detour."

• "If the road is completely closed, then the time frame should not be 12 to 18 months. Provide the incentive to the contractor to complete the work in six months."

• "It would impact the Ava Gardner Museum in several ways. We have visitors that come from the west, and a detour may discourage them from visiting. Also, many visitors take the drive over the bridge to visit Ava's grave."

• "There are creative ways that downtown businesses can rebrand downtown as a destination, make it family-friendly, arrange to park on the west side of the river, reenact the historical river crossing ... Can there be some temporary pedestrian bridge crossing put in place?"