As roadwork hurts Woodstock businesses, city tries to minimize impact

When Lori Miarecki bought a second location for her bed and breakfast in Woodstock, she didn’t expect road construction to affect her business so much.

Now, with the second location of the Cherry Tree Inn Bed and Breakfast, at 220 E. South St., sitting right next to the work for the South-Lake-Madison roundabout, the view has become “unsightly” and guests have difficulty getting to the driveway, prompting several to cancel their plans.

“It’s delaying our ability to be fully open,” Miarecki said. “We’re definitely going to be making way less money [at the location] this year.”

Road construction is in full swing in Woodstock, and it may remain that way for a while. Because of the planned construction, some businesses in the area are voicing concerns about their ability to attract customers.

Woodstock’s summer construction season is slated to be a busy one, with an almost $13 million road program hitting more than 20 roads.

The construction of a new roundabout in downtown at the five-way intersection of South Street, Lake Avenue and Madison Street also is underway, work on which could continue until the end of the year.

Adding to the plans, a project to widen Route 47 in town could happen as soon as fall 2023 and may take a couple years to complete. Paired with normal construction, some businesses are concerned that this year’s problems are just the start.

Read Between the Lynes owner Arlene Lynes has been vocal about concerns with construction, asking at a Woodstock City Council meeting in May for the city to work with businesses through the difficulties.

Lynes said Monday she thinks the road construction is “very much needed” and appreciates the city improving the community.

She also noted the city’s pledge to help the businesses through the work and communicate with them throughout the process.

“We as a business community will persevere through this as we have with other challenges we face,” she said.

To get ahead of any potential disruptions, the city has been working to notify businesses ahead of the construction, Woodstock Economic Development Director Garrett Anderson said. While some businesses have lost drive-by traffic, access still remains.

“There’s always going to be an impact to a business when there’s construction,” he said. “There’s nothing that’s going to completely mitigate that.”

Mayor Michael Turner said Monday the city will do what it can and work with businesses to minimize the effect of construction. He also said some of the work being done this year was made more crucial because of Route 47′s future work, which will bring similar challenges “in greater magnitude,” he said.

The city’s role in helping comes down to communicating the schedule of construction activity, Turner said. Promoting businesses is something they can help with as well.

Getting work on the roundabout done before the holiday shopping season also was something Turner pushed for. The work is scheduled to be completed in early December, he said.

“I’m adamant in my direction to staff that the contractor and the city do everything possible to finish by the Wednesday before Thanksgiving,” Turner said.

Anderson said the Illinois Department of Transportation, which is carrying out the Route 47 project, will not completely block off access to any businesses during the construction.

Two Woodstock Fire and Rescue District stations are also near current or future construction areas, but it hasn’t led to issues getting equipment out of the stations or any “significant delays” in responding time, Deputy Chief Brendan Parker said.

“Our guys know how to navigate around it,” he said. “And if there’s anything significant, we can call the next closest station to respond.”

Still, business for some is slowing.

Miarecki at Cherry Tree said they’ve considered closing the location as a bed and breakfast for the time being and instead potentially offering it as a full-time rental. Construction is taking place currently on the weekdays, and as a result, the location is closed during that time, limiting their business significantly, she said.

“Right now, there is a giant mass-dump truck filled with gravel backed up in front of the house,” she said. “Weekdays are good for guests to relax, and we can’t open on weekdays when there’s giant trucks and [machines] in the road.”

Woodstock Area Chamber of Commerce President Brad Ball said it’s important to promote Woodstock businesses and support them during construction.

“They’re all open,” Ball said.