U.S. 31 is a main thoroughfare through Traverse City. But right now it’s a one-lane road.
The sidewalks and pavement are gone.
And crews are hard at work on the first phase of a project to rebuild two miles of the highway.
Blue Goat Wine and Provisions sits at the fork of U.S. 31 and Peninsula Drive. The shop has a front row view of the construction.
Coty Mendenhall is the general manager. Mendenhall said when crews started to bust up the road and sidewalk, the 150-year-old building suffered some foundational damage.
“There were some cracks looking up at the ceiling kind of leading to the outside, it seems as though the foundation in the sidewalk at some point had kind of melded together," she said. "So with the removal of that, we did see a little bit of a shift in the building.”
Mendenhall said crews from Elmers Construction stepped up right away to address it. They put a brace on a protruding wall in the basement to prevent further damage.
Some more permanent repairs are also in the works and the business remains open. She said owners have been in contact with the Michigan Department of Transportation and Elmers regularly.
MDOT has made itself available for all businesses around the construction, said James Lake, an agency spokesman.
“We've made our contact information, our contractors, contact information available to all of these businesses," Lake said. "And I know that we've had a lot of contact with updates and answering questions.”
MDOT also maintains a website with updated information about the project with maps and other details. It’s also sharing materials with the City and the Downtown Authority to distribute to the public.
Wild Birds Unlimited is down the road from the Blue Goat. Inside, manager Tree Chitwood has just finished a phone call, giving out the store's hours and assuring a customer they're still open.
“We're getting a lot of people who call and say, 'Are you still there? Or what are your hours? Yeah. Can we still get there,'" she said.
The store is inside a strip mall of restaurants, shops and a bank.
It takes a detour to get there from the west side, but from the east, the plaza is still accessible which has confused some folks.
“I know Bubbie’s Bagels have been putting up signs, we've got some signs that are going to be put out for just that Campus Plaza businesses are open," Chitwood said. "Third Coast has been willing to put up signage for us pretty much up and down. Just to let people know even though it says the road is closed to through traffic doesn't mean the businesses are closed”
But despite some of the obstacles to reach these businesses, concerns about slower business have waned thanks to community support.
Chitwood said they’ve had new customers show up due to the project.
“We're very blessed," she said. "We got phones ringing off the wall, we put out an email saying that we are going to up our deliveries. We've also had a lot of people come in the store that have heard about the dilemma with the construction, and have never been here before. And so they're coming over to support us.”
Blue Goat general manager Coty Mendenhall said more people have come in to support their business, too.
“Some people are like, actually, 'I don't even really need any wine right now. But I'm gonna buy a couple bottles just to be there for you.' And every single little bit makes a difference,” Mendenhall said.
Other businesses are less optimistic. Benjamin Twiggs, a store that sells cherry merchandise in the same strip mall as Wild Birds Unlimited, said in a social media post that “this is not normal and we can not survive three months of this,” calling for community support.
James Lake, with MDOT, said it was a careful decision to start this phase of the project before summer, when Traverse City swells with tourists.
“And we've been fortunate this year, we knew that when we scheduled the start of construction for this project in mid March, that was with our fingers crossed," Lake said. "Knowing that winter weather could still be hanging on significantly at this point.”
But a warmer winter this year gave crews more cushion as they move forward for the next phase of the project.
Meanwhile businesses like Blue Goat are preparing for future challenges but appreciate folks coming out to support them now.
“It’s just really heartwarming," Coty Mendenhall said. "It’s one of the things I love about Traverse City is the local community and just to have that proof that we're listening, we care we're here for you.”
This work is expected to last a few months and then shift in the summer to the section of highway between downtown Traverse City and West Grand Traverse Bay.
