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Businesses adjust to construction headaches in downtown Wheaton

Dave Harms isn't yet ready to breathe a sigh of relief.

He's the manager of the Carlson True Value Hardware store at Front and Cross streets in downtown Wheaton, the eastern limit of a major streetscape project taking place just outside shops and restaurants.

A five-block stretch of Front Street encompasses the first stage of the downtown revitalization effort that could eventually cost roughly $32 million over four years or longer.

Temporary ramps have provided access to storefronts during most of the summer, though at one point, Carlson True Value Hardware had to open an emergency fire exit to let patrons inside.

The decline in customer traffic has turned out to be worse than the store expected.

"It did fairly drastically affect business," Harms said.

He's hoping business picks up again now that the most intrusive construction has moved to the project's western leg.

"But we want to get all those barricades cleared, so people don't think it's construction because they didn't want to go through the hassle of trying to find a place to park and then walk through barricades to try to get to the store," Harms said.

A groundbreaking in April ushered in the start of extensive improvements to the downtown's roads, gathering spaces, lighting and overall ambience.

The city awarded a $5.1 million bid to contractors for the roadwork and streetscape transformation on a segment of Front Street between Cross and West streets. Under a separate $1.3 million contract, crews replaced aging water mains and sanitary sewers below that same stretch of road last fall. Collectively, those contracts are about $600,000 below previous estimates.

Nasty spring weather and Union Pacific Railroad permitting caused some construction delays, Assistant City Manager John Duguay said, but the city expects the work to be substantially complete in mid- to late September.

A new plaza relocated from the south to the north side of Front Street at Main Street will be one of the last elements to take shape.

Engineers are designing underground vaults to hold pumps for a water feature. An obelisk landmark will mark the entrance to the new version of the Robert J. Martin Memorial Plaza, a special events venue named in honor of a former Wheaton mayor who served until 1990. A gas-fired fireplace forms the base of that monument.

Maple trees will provide shade for the 15 cafe tables and 60 seats around the plaza with catenary lights strung overhead.

Many of the existing trees downtown are stunted because their roots don't have enough room to grow. To address that issue, crews are digging a trench - averaging 6 feet wide - on each side of Front Street except for the intersections and filling the channel with structural soil designed to help trees take root and develop a canopy with ascending branches so storefronts are still visible.

Permeable brick pavers will let water reach the trees in an "amenity zone" with bike racks and benches along new, wider sidewalks.

"I think it meets what our city council wants, which is a pedestrian-friendly and a more inviting area for people to walk and to come and gather," Duguay said.

As for the roadwork, crews had to reconstruct the street between Hale and Main, but they're resurfacing the other segments. The striping for parking stalls now is only temporary.

"When the whole project is done from West Street all the way to Cross Street, they'll put that final layer on, and then they'll do the final striping in September," Duguay said.

Concrete stamped to look like cobblestone has been removed from Hale to Main. There also will be no more angled parking - only parallel - on West Street to Wheaton Avenue and Wheaton to Hale. But the total number of parking spots on each block remains constant.

Parallel parking in some cases can be more efficient, and engineers provided for more appropriate driveway and entry way widths, which allowed the city to recapture some potential parking space, Duguay said.

The Downtown Wheaton Association, meanwhile, is running an "Oh, Yes You Can …" campaign to reinforce the message that businesses still are catering to customers during the project. The group of shops and restaurants last week launched a "Streetscape Scavenger Hunt" that will award prizes to winners in September.

At the hardware store, Harms complimented the progress so far and the "nice-sized" trees planted on his block.

"If they get the rest of our curbs in and the piece of sidewalk in at the corner, we'll finally be good," he said.

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An outdoor fireplace and obelisk will mark the entrance to a new plaza near Front and Main streets in downtown Wheaton. Courtesy of the city of Wheaton
  Sidewalks have been installed and trees have been planted on a block of Front Street between Hale and Main streets as part of a major downtown Wheaton streetscape project that could take more than four years to complete. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  Wheaton Assistant City Manager John Duguay looks over the progress of the beautification project along Front Street. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
  The south side of Front Street is now being torn up for the streetscape improvements. Bev Horne/bhorne@dailyherald.com
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