North Broadway Avenue reopens, businesses react

(ABC 6 News) – Over the weekend, community members came together for a ribbon-cutting celebration to mark a milestone many businesses and people have been looking forward to.

After months of work – Phase one of the reconstruction of North Broadway Avenue is completed and now open reopened to traffic from Silver Lake Bridge to Civic Center Drive.

One business along Broadway that has been impacted by the construction is Silver Lake Smokeshop.

The smoke shop opened its doors back in May and says the sales have been slow, but have remained patient, hoping that with the reopening their store can see some more traffic.

"Hoping to see more people, hoping to see more energy more like everything moves, hoping for the better for everybody too. The road was a big challenge for everybody, Most businesses," Silver Lake Smoke shop manager Sam Al Zahroon said.

A few blocks away stands Only Shoe Repair which has been in its location since 1972.

The owner says they have seen a lot of changes over years, especially with construction projects.

But says this project has had the biggest impact, and while it is nice the road has been re-opened, there could still be potential issues.

"Just because of the median and the turn lanes, the turn lanes are pretty short, you get one or two cars in the lane, and if the third will be in the middle of the lane and that could be a problem," said Only Shoe Repair owner Mike Derouin.

Phase two of the project will begin in the spring.