Government Way shops suffered during work
On the worst days, Tracy Hayes didn’t sell enough doughnuts to cover her day’s pay at The Donut House. But today she has an order for 10 dozen doughy treats to help celebrate the reopening of Government Way in downtown Hayden and the end of seven months of bad business blamed on road construction and single-lane traffic.
“I can’t tell you how excited we are going to be to have two-way traffic,” Hayes said Thursday afternoon while pulling a lightly glazed apple fritter the size of a saucer out of the glass case.
Outside, the northbound lane of Government Way remained blocked by orange barrels as construction workers put the finishing touches on the freshly poured pavement. Large signs tried to convince drivers that local businesses remained open, but parking spaces were plentiful in almost every lot from Zip’s to Country Cleaners.
Some business owners claim they lost as much as $50,000 since street construction began in mid-March.
Hayden city officials and the Hayden Chamber of Commerce are having a public ribbon-cutting at 9 a.m. at Hayden City Hall to celebrate the reopening of Government Way, which now has three lanes between Honeysuckle and Miles avenues.
To honor the occasion, the city ordered 120 doughnuts from the local shop that has suffered since construction began on the $5 million project aimed at revitalizing downtown Hayden and helping traffic flow. The celebration is nearly a month late. Although the street is open and there are new sidewalks and curbs, the work isn’t done. Crews likely won’t finish the landscaping or planting trees in the new medians until spring, and some of the decorative street lighting isn’t installed.
The city and chamber are encouraging people to shop at businesses along Government Way in Hayden.
“What I would really like to see happen is that the community rallies now for the businesses that are still here,” said Scott Jamar, the past president of the Hayden Chamber of Commerce. “We need to think about our local businesses before we think about going to downtown Coeur d’Alene for our needs.”
Some business owners declined to comment on the record but indicated the celebration is an insult because there is no joy in losing money.
Because Hayden doesn’t require business licenses, Jamar said, there is no record of how many businesses have moved or closed since the construction started. His estimate was 11.
Perry Finley, the owner of Country Cleaners, said his cleaning business has lost about $50,000 and some of his employees lost their jobs. Others had a reduction in hours. He was grateful for loyal customers who negotiated the maze of road detours to drop off their clothes.
“That was a silver lining,” he said.
Mayor Ron McIntire said the city won’t actually stop traffic and string a ribbon across Government Way; the ribbon-cutting is just ceremonial.
“I’m afraid if we stand in that road someone would run over us, it’s been closed too long,” McIntire said jokingly.
McIntire said the goal of construction is to boost business and bring more people to Hayden’s downtown, where the city wants to recreate a village atmosphere the town once had.
Those changes are already starting to happen, he said, noting the Ski Shack’s incorporation of log siding on its remodeled storefront.
“That’s the kind of thing we are hoping to see a lot of,” McIntire said.