Downtown businesses being patient through Main Street repaving

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

It’s been a long summer for downtown Charles City as Main Street businesses have had to adapt to disruptions caused by the Main Street Rehabilitation Project.

While the project has made navigating downtown mildly inconvenient all summer, the project is in a particularly hectic phase as the repaving process has started, which has restricted parking, blocked off intersections, and limited driving.

“It has been an inconvenience and it definitely has affected business,” said Darci Tracey of Prologue Books and Wine.

While many businesses have reported that walk-in traffic has slowed down during the project to varying extents, there is a unifying sentiment that patience is needed and that the result will be worth the temporary disruption.

“They do what they need to do,” said Dep Joe Ngo of Art Nails+.

“I think we’re just ready to be done with it,” said Ashley Fagerland of Cardigan, who has had to work around back-to-back years of parking restrictions between this project and last year’s parking lot renovation behind the store. “It will be nice when it’s done.”

While the construction project has been disruptive, Charles City’s downtown does have advantages that other communities don’t have to help mitigate the inconvenience. An abundance of parking on either side of Main Street and most businesses having rear access has allowed customers to continue to patronize their favorite shops without having to go too far out of their way.

“All of our regulars still come in for sure because they know about the back,” said Autumn Miller of Aromas.

“There is almost always parking,” said Birdie & Bo’s retail associate Heidi Pavlovich.

Businesses also praised the contractors for going above and beyond to minimize disruptions when possible, showing appreciation for their work and communication throughout the process.

“The guys have been doing a great job cleaning up after themselves,” said Peg Lidd of the Rustic Corner.

“Overall I think the process has gone really well,” said Community Development Director Mark Wicks, noting that the construction crew went out of their way to make sure Main Street was crossable during the recent Harvest Moon Festival shopping event. “The construction crews are doing a good job. They’re really mindful of what’s going on.”

In the meantime, Wicks is thankful that the project has gone as smoothly as it has and encourages the community to continue shopping downtown.

“We certainly think that our Main Street Businesses are worth an extra walk,” he said.