Downtown Construction Has Round Rock Business Owners Complaining

A $13 million construction project designed to help attract business to downtown Round Rock is having some negative short-term effects.

Construction for the project improving Round Rock Avenue, Main and Mays streets has some business owners saying that access to their business is being restricted, reported KVUE.

“Business has slowed, it’s tough when you can’t get through here,” Amy Culp, one of the owners of Life Force Personal Fitness, told the station.

Since construction began in April, Round Rock Avenue has been restricted from four lanes to two. Mays street has also been restricted to two lanes.

Although the construction may be hurting businesses now, Downtown Manager Courtney Ainsworth said the goal of the project is to make downtown a more appealing location to shop and support local businesses.

“We don’t want to sugar coat construction,” Ainsworth told Patch. “It’s a difficult process to get through and our businesses are being patient. The goal is to improve downtown so in the end it will be better for all businesses.”

Ainsworth said that the construction will ultimately make downtown Round Rock more pedestrian friendly, move utilities underground, create a roundabout on Round Rock Avenue and make several aesthetic enhancements to the area.

She said that any construction project is bound to raise questions and concerns for those immediately affected, but the city is doing its best to keep everyone looking forward.

“Any time there’s construction there is obviously at least a lot of questions raised to make sure the end goal is beneficial for all businesses involved. We’ve done out best to alleviate what we can and to be communicative so they are involved in process and aware of whats going on and on the horizon,” Ainsworth told Patch.

The construction project is expected to be completed in March of 2017.