Found this in today's paper,Glad to hear Second Ave is back open thru the SoDo district.it's a great up and coming area that has been hit hard by the construction of Second.Seems like all construction projects on the Washington side of our area take longer then most(i.e. this project,Havana St. Bridge and the State Line bridge) but that's another topic altogether.....
For the past two years, traffic on Second Avenue has been hampered by reconstruction work – as has business for merchants along the street.
Last week, the work on Second from Division to Howard streets was finished. The new blacktop is smooth, and the white and yellow lines are fresh and easy to see.
Now business owners are waiting for customers to return.
“I think people are still kind of wary of downtown,” said Melody Padrta, who co-owns the Marketplace Wine Bar at Second and Browne.
“There are a lot of people who don’t know we are here,” she said.
The business shares space in a 21,000-square-foot building with the fledgling Spokane Public Market and Sun People Dry Goods Co., which sells sustainable and organic products.
Mayor Mary Verner was scheduled to attend the market’s grand opening Saturday, partly to mark the completion of $4 million in work on Second Avenue that started in spring of 2010.
Verner said in a news release last week she understood the hardship on Second Avenue businesses.
“We are pleased to join with the businesses along Second Avenue in welcoming citizens to a renovated street that will serve our community well into the future,” the mayor said.
Funding for the street reconstruction came from a bond issue approved by voters in 2004.
Other bond projects completed this year include Hatch Road from 57th Avenue and Perry Street to 43rd Avenue; Grand Boulevard from 29th Avenue to High Drive; Post Street from Maxwell to Cleveland avenues; and Mission Avenue from Hamilton to Greene streets.
