BETTENDORF, Iowa (KWQC) – The orange cones, large dirt piles and the road closed signs are a familiar sight in downtown Bettendorf. For businesses around the I-74 bridge say while they’re seeing more cars driving by, they’re seeing less people walking through their doors.
Gail Edwards, the owner of Interior Image said they relocated to downtown Bettendorf because the new bridge was going up there.
With the new bridge, Edwards felt like they would see an improvement in traffic flow, but since the I-74 bridge construction began, the business flow is struggling for nearby businesses like hers.
“We used to have approximately about five brand new customers a week,” Edwards said.
Now, Edwards say they’re lucky if they see one new customer a week.
“It’s got to be the bridge, it’s just all the construction, people get nervous around anything that’s new and in the construction,” Edwards said.
Food and drink establishments in the area are also seeing the impact.
“The past couple weeks we have seen like a decline in customers and that and that’s not the best for business,” Emilee Cruse, a bartender and waitress at Sports Fans, said.
Cruse said they see that decline most during lunch hours and weekends.
“On Saturday you could just see along Grant Street it was just stop and go and it was lined up the whole time, all day.” Cruse said.
The Paddle Wheel Bar and Grill has a front row seat to the construction, right outside their window.
“The traffic patterns have affected businesses down here because you can’t just turn and get to where you [have to] go, you [have to] go several blocks out of your way to get everywhere you’re going,” Robert Egger, owner of the Paddle Wheel, said.
He says they’re seeing the impact to their bottom line as well.
“It has slowed some of my happy hour crowd because it’s taking them longer to get home, they’re not stopping in,” Egger said.
So when you’re in your car and have to merge to steer clear of construction, these businesses say that doesn’t mean you have to merge away from them.
“I kind of hope that people don’t forget that it’s a positive thing, don’t be afraid of it, don’t scare away from it, just come down and see us, and see everybody in this area,” Edwards said. “There are fantastic shops down here, there’s really some neat places to shop and get some things.”
Even though these businesses say they are seeing negative effects, all three businesses say the bridge construction is a positive thing and they’re all looking forward to the project finishing up.
I-DOT construction is expected to last through the summer and they hope it will be done in August.
