Downtown Niles braces for bridge replacement project

The owner of a downtown Niles restaurant said he expects to lose between 15 and 20 percent of business during the yearlong Main Street Bridge replacement project.

“It isn’t going to be the regulars, it is going to be the one-time person or the tourist driving through that is going to be rerouted,” said Dave Dulemba, owner of the Nuggett Downtown Grill. “Right now it is a wait-and-see thing to find out just how much traffic will be rerouted.”

Beginning Monday, Oct. 13, the Main Street Bridge will be closed as construction crews begin work on replacing the 90-plus-year-old bridge. The Michigan Department of Transportation expects the bridge to reopen in November

of 2015.

In the meantime, traffic that normally travels past downtown businesses on Main Street will be detoured two blocks south to Broadway Street and the Broadway Bridge.

Main Street will remain open downtown during construction, but downtown business owners fear that motorists will not pass by their shops, leading to less impulse buys.

“I think the people that depend totally on walk-ins will see a change,” said Michelle Boyd, of Signal Travel and Tours in downtown Niles. “It will impact all businesses if people are being told not to come downtown because of the project. I think the big thing is for everyone to be aware that the downtown is accessible and open during construction.”

Lisa Croteau, program manager for Niles DDA Main Street, said the city is working with the Michigan Department of Transportation to make sure there is signage at detour points reminding people the downtown is open.

She said the city would also work hard to spread the message that the downtown is open through other avenues, such as social media.

“We will work to continue to promote businesses downtown and make sure they stay front of mind with customers,” she said.

The last major downtown project was a streetscape about 10 years ago.

“We made it through that one and that had the roads torn up and terrible congestion,” she said. “This isn’t going to be that way.

“Right now we don’t know how it will affect businesses. We will have to wait and see. The bottom line is it’s a two-block detour. It won’t be inconvenient for a customer to get here.”

Croteau also said shops could potentially gain business from construction workers or people coming to watch the replacement of the bridge.

“It’s not every day you get to see a bridge torn down,” she said.