Construction that was pushed forward to help the Normandy Park Towne Center is leaving the businesses there asking when it will all be over so they can get their customers back.

Normandy Park applied for and was awarded $3.6 million in federal stimulus money for improvements along 1st Avenue South between 192nd and 200th streets. Construction began in October to widen the road to add sidewalks and a bicycle lane.

Normandy Park City Manager Doug Shulze explained the construction is the second phase of work on 1st Avenue. The first phase of construction went from the Burien city limits south to 172nd Street. Pivetta Brothers Construction is doing the work.

Shulze said the city decided to move the section of road being worked on forward to 200th street to benefit the shopping center.

The businesses inside are just wondering when the construction will be finished.

Rachel Gavin, general manager of the Archery Bistro said they have lost 75 percent of their lunch clientele because of the construction.

She said Friday afternoons there used to be a wait for lunch. Where they averaged 100-150 people for lunch on a Friday, they now see 30.
"Customers just don't want to sit in the traffic," Gavin said.

Workers in the Desert Sun Tanning Salon said vibrations from the construction have knocked pictures off of their walls.

Lynne Hewitt, owner of Normandy Park Athletic, said clients have started canceling because of the traffic caused by the construction. And not as many members are coming into the gym each day to work out as they did before.

Hewitt said before the construction began the gym would see 300-400 people coming in every day. Now the average is around 200.

Hewitt admitted she avoids the road too, skipping going to the grocery store because of the traffic. She said it has taken her over half an hour to get from 200th street to 172nd.

"There's just no end in sight," Hewitt said.

Shulze said the original schedule for completion of the project was the end of April. But he said now realistically it would likely be finished sometime in the end of May or June.

There have been several factors that have delayed progress, Shulze said.

"Any time you open up the street with the utilities that are underground, you find surprises," said Shulze.

Construction crews also had to deal with the original concrete road that had been paved over with asphalt, which they were not expecting. Shulze said 200 feet of the old concrete road had to be removed.

But unexpected construction work is not the only reason for delays, Shulze said.

"(There were) times where the contractor didn't have the size of crew or the crew wasn't on site when our staff thought they could have been," Shulze said.

Hewitt, like the other businesses, just ask that people keep supporting them. "We will be here for the long haul," Hewitt said.