MILWAUKEE — The Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) had a total of 325 improvement projects underway across the state this year. A WisDOT spokesperson said many of those have wrapped up for the season, but there are still more than 100 active projects in Wisconsin.
Those projects can pose a challenge for business owners and residents along the routes where the work is being done.
Jim Neumeyer is the co-owner of Beans & Barley on Milwaukee’s East Side. His market and café is in the heart of a construction project on North Avenue between Prospect and Humboldt Avenues.
“We have certainly felt that drop of accessibility to this area of town,” Neumeyer said.
He said the drop in accessibility means a drop in profits, as navigating the construction cones and road closures is difficult for customers.
“In particular, for people who are maybe coming from outside of the East Side, and visiting the East Side, finding a way to get here safely or in a way that’s not too confusing is kind of challenging,” he said.
Terry Burant lives nearby. She said it’s important for the neighborhood to take the road work in stride, and still get out to support the shops and restaurants in the construction zone.
“It’s worth it to sustain, support, these small businesses because at some point the construction is going to be over with, and hopefully the end result makes life easier. We need to help through the hard times and not shy away,” Burant said.
Neumeyer said he knows the construction will ultimately improve North Avenue, and boost pedestrian and bicycle accessibility.
“I think it’s an absolutely great thing for the area. I think that adding safety to the streets, slowing down the traffic and beatifying the street to some degree only helps,” he said.
WisDOT echoed the sentiment, saying it is “committed to maximizing state and federal investments in Wisconsin’s infrastructure to improve quality of life in our communities.”
He, and other business owners, are determined to weather the short-term pain of construction, to experience the potential long-term gain of an improved roadway.
The work on the North Avenue is expected to be completed by November.
If there is construction in your area, WisDOT urged drivers to “buckle up, put the phone down and slow down in work zones to protect the people improving Wisconsin’s transportation system.”