After months of major construction, road closures and details, the overpass construction at Bell Road and Grand Avenue is nearly complete.
Now that the Bell Road and Grand Avenue interchange is open for business, Surprise city officials said the surrounding shops fared better than expected.
Anticipating a downturn in business, Surprise set aside $50,000 to launch a program promoting local shops and providing resources, like extra signs, to stores around the construction.
“It was really the mom and pop businesses that we might look at how they’re going to survive anyway,” she said.
Surprise Economic Development Director Jeanine Jerkovic said two of 277 businesses the city reached out to ended up closing, including a family-owned restaurant KJZZ reported was losing salesduring early construction.
Jerkovic said the city projected a loss of up to $1 million — that loss came in around $30,000.
“We wanted to be conservative not really knowing what could happen and we were pleasantly surprised,” Jerkovic said.
The city depends on the retail area for about 30 percent of the general fund’s retail income.
“We went door to door and talked with each and every business," Jerkovic said. "We gave them tips and mentorships and everything that we could.”
Jerkovic said seven others opened or announced they were opening around the new overpass at Bell Road.
Arizona Department of Transportation says the $41.9 million project will come in on budget and on time, and both ramps are now open.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The headline has been modified to correct the name of the road closed during construction.
