SHERIDAN — This construction season, Main Street will receive the beginning portions of its resurfacing while the city of Sheridan replaces main utility lines underneath. Through that process, downtown business owners will work to figure out how to maintain business traffic among detours extending the next two construction seasons.
The purpose of the project is to resurface Main Street and includes rehabilitating the bridge crossing Little Goose Creek, a Wyoming Department of Transportation handout said. The project starts on First Street and extends south through the intersection of Main Street and Coffeen/Burkitt streets. The city of Sheridan will simultaneously replace water and sewer lines. There will be pedestrian access to storefronts at all times throughout the length of the project, the document said.
The project will be completed in seven sequences. Each sequence will be no longer than three blocks at a time. When each block is completed, that block will open and the next block at the end of the closure will be added.
The timeline for length of closure will be dictated by the amount of work in that particular area. The project will take two construction seasons, beginning this spring and closing down Oct. 31, resuming again in April 2024 and concluding October 2024, weather depending. Beyond those guidelines, Wyoming Department of Transportation District 4 representatives did not have a more solidified timeline for business owners at the first of ongoing public meetings for businesses experiencing changes along Main Street. Kid Curious co-owner Jamie Franzman spoke first, initially providing solutions to inconveniences incurred through the construction, including signage encouraging folks to visit downtown, promoting specific businesses open for business and grant funding for lost revenues.
Downtown Sheridan Association and Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce staff intend to continually host meetings, provide information and avenues of support throughout the process.
“The Chamber is absolutely a collaborating partner with the Downtown Sheridan Association,” Chamber CEO Dixie Johnson said. “We discussed this at our Economic Development Task Force meeting…We are really working and will continue to work hard on making sure we help you with some of these solutions, put them into actual place. It’s not just lip service.”
The Economic Development Task Force — composed of the city of Sheridan, Sheridan County, Sheridan County Chamber of Commerce, Sheridan College, the Wyoming Business Council and many other local organizations — also placed itself in the center of ensuring economic flourishing during this time, despite Franzman’s prediction, based on business owners who went through the last Main Street major construction she said, that downtown businesses will lose 50% revenues during the construction years.
Plans for relocating 3rd Thursday Street Festival events and Rodeo parade to Grinnell and Broadway have been proposed in earlier meetings with the DSA, as shutting down construction to accommodate those events, like the Rodeo parade, would add an additional three weeks to construction time. No decisions are final.
Wyld Adventures Kelsey and CJ Rathjen shared concerns about emergency routes, to which City Public Works Director Hanns Mercer said emergency personnel will know the accessible routes. The Rathjens also shared concerns this would cause at least one business to shutter its doors permanently due to the impact of the construction on local businesses.
“Someone in this room right now is going to close their business because of this construction,” CJ Rathjen said. “When you talked about convenience, we don’t see the price for that, just like you guys won’t see the price for us.”
Cottonwood Kitchen + Home owners Jessica and Jeff Garrelts reiterated they appreciated the project moving forward and completing as quickly as possible, and downtown businesses needed to collaborate on ideas to positively impact business during this time.
“It has to be done, they don’t have a choice, but they are the ones responsible to make this work,” Jessica Garrelts said of WYDOT staff, reminding business owners to remain positive about the situation. “We need to get together, we need to talk about what we can do. Right? Not just what they can do. We have to talk about how we’re going to get through it. Are we going to post on our social media? Are we going to have signs? Are we going to actually show up when DSA has a promotions committee meeting so we can make a plan on how our businesses are going to work?
“You can’t blame everything on these guys. We have to work with them,” she said.
WYDOT District 4 Senior Public Relations Specialist Laura Dalles said she and her staff would be hosting weekly public meetings at ERA Carroll Realty’s second floor conference room located at 306 N. Main St. to update anyone interested in project progress. Information will also be disseminated through local media, Chamber and WYDOT social media sites.
Ashleigh Snoozy joined The Sheridan Press in October 2016 as a reporter before moving into the managing editor position in November 2018. She is a native of Colorado and graduated from Biola University in Los Angeles.
