If you’ve spent any time at all in Evansville, you know you are bound to encounter road construction in the city. It is really starting to have a tremendous impact on area businesses, and not in a good way.
Downtown Evansville Street Closures Add to Business Strain
In Downtown Evansville alone, a portion of Riverside Drive is closed after a water main break in February formed a sinkhole, resulting in the discovery of a collapsed sewer. There’s the stretch of Bob Jones Way, also known as Walnut Street, that is closed to through traffic near the EVPL’s Central Branch, and we can’t forget about the ongoing construction of a new downtown building that has kept Sycamore Street closed for months. It’s the latter that has one local business offering up a cash reward if the street can be reopened.
Your Brother’s Bookstore and Arcademie Speak Out
Independent bookseller, Your Brother’s Bookstore, has been very vocal on social media about the negative impact the downtown construction projects have had on their business. Most recently, nearby Arcademie took to Facebook to offer the developers of the new complex a hefty incentive.
Since we’ve not heard from you and Sycamore Street remains closed, we started thinking maybe our offer of $500 to re-open the road to traffic wasn’t incentive enough. After all, many have pointed out that your 150+ apartment project – again, a project we’re thrilled for, and have been waiting on for years – likely costs upwards of $20,000, why would $500 matter? But in an economy made even more challenging by an endless street closure, your deafening silence has been heard loud and clear. Brinkmanship. Well played….We’re prepared today to offer you $2,500 to re-open Sycamore St by Friday, August 15th.
But it isn’t just downtown that is plagued by construction. Last weekend, I encountered construction and orange barrels on both Boeke between the Lloyd and Morgan Avenue, and more orange barrels while traveling east on Morgan…