Whether you frequent downtown Brookfield or you’ve only driven through, you’ve likely noticed the construction along Grand Boulevard. Since April 21, northwest-bound traffic on the 3700 block of Grand has been rerouted, and half of the daytime parking has been closed, to accommodate the work of digging up road, replacing sidewalks, installing brick pavers and replanting trees.

For seven and a half weeks, construction crews did work on the northeast side of the road. Last Wednesday, June 11, Brookfield announced the work had shifted to the southwest side of the street for the next seven weeks and change.

While village staff informed business owners of the construction ahead of time, businesses on the block are feeling the consequences.

One business owner on the northeast side of the 3700 block, who asked to remain anonymous, said she’s noticed a drop in turnout at events her business hosts.

“My sales are down about 20% [compared to] last year, from the start date to last Thursday, [June 5],” she told the Landmark.

The business owner said she thinks a perceived lack of parking has pushed potential customers to go elsewhere, contributing to the lower attendance, but she said she’s had to accept that the construction will continue for most of the summer.

“It is what it is. My initial thought was, ‘Hey, I get that there’s a grant for Brookfield [to improve Grand Boulevard], I get it. I just wish it was timed differently,’” she said. “But what can you do? You don’t really have much power.”

Village Manager Tim Wiberg said 80% of the funding for the project comes from the Surface Transportation Program administered by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning through the Central Council of Mayors, to which Brookfield belongs.

The anonymous owner said July and August tend to be slower months for her business.

“They usually have the [Fourth of July] parade, the car show, and the music on Grand to get us through [July],” she said. “Now, we don’t have any of those events, because they’re rerouting the parade nowhere near here, the car show is at the circle, and they’re not doing music on Grand, so July is going to be a pretty tough month for us.”

Dee Williams, a manager at Daisy’s Treats and Bakery, and Gina Conley, the owner of Prairie Path Vintage Market, said they didn’t think the construction had affected their sales or traffic. Both businesses are on the southwest side of Grand Boulevard, where work has only just begun.

Cristina Garza is the owner and operator of The Social Play, 3741 Grand Blvd., an indoor play space for children aged five and younger. The business has only been open for eight months, so Garza said she doesn’t have data to compare against for this time of year, but she’s noticed the construction has made it difficult for families with kids in strollers to access her storefront.

“Maybe if you’re looking [from] across the street, and you see that there’s no way for you to cross over from your stroller, then it could potentially have parents turn away from coming in,” she said. “For some parents who do have strollers, I’ve actually had them come in through the back door, just to try and help out, but then that can be a little frustrating because some people will start calling me: ‘Hey, Cristina, is your back door open?’”

Garza said she didn’t feel upset about the construction after seeing renderings of the finished product.

“Now, I’m feeling relief that our side is done,” she said.

Jenna Land runs her vintage clothing business, Collect by Land, inside apothecary Luxxe Honor, 3745 Grand Blvd. Like Garza, Land’s business has been open for less than a year, so she said she couldn’t say if the level of activity she’s seeing is normal for June. Still, business has been slow.

“There are days that they’re pouring [concrete] wherever, and you can’t get in or out, and there’s absolutely no foot traffic,” she told the Landmark. “Even coming from before construction, whenever it was colder out, we were getting more walk-ins, things like that. Then, once construction [started], there’s hardly any walk-ins. It really is a ghost town.”

She said she didn’t begrudge Brookfield for the construction, though.

“Everyone in the village has been really great, and they were good at informing us and letting us know about everything,” she said. “The communication has been great. I don’t know if there’s really anything else they can do.”

Wiberg said village staff have coordinated with the construction crews to ensure parking along Grand Boulevard reopens after work is done for the day.

“In the busy dinnertime and evening hours, most of the spots have been reopened, so we were careful to ensure that was going to happen,” he said. “The basic thing is to get the project done as quickly and efficiently as possible, so that the conflicts would not be there for very long.”

He said Brookfield staff has been intentional about reaching out to business owners, including hosting public meetings and going door-to-door with information, but has not been able to offer them economic incentives.

“The project is on schedule. We’re working proactively with the contractor to make sure that they stay on schedule, and they’ve been good to work with. Hancock Engineering is doing a great job in managing the project and keeping, like I said, parking spots open. We’re trying to mitigate the negative impacts as much as possible,” Wiberg said. “The detour seems to be working well, and I chock that up to, again, we did a lot of public information prior to this project. I have not seen any traffic tie-ups as a result of the lack of northbound traffic allowed on Grand, so everything seems to be going really well.”