ShawneeDispatch.com

Even after some rainy days and colder weather, the work on Shawnee's main thoroughfare has continued and is nearly complete, but business owners are still wondering why it has taken so long.

The top layer or "final lift" of asphalt for the expanded three lanes of the parkway from Halsey to Pflumm was laid last week, and for several days, motorists were able to experience how the extra lane affected traffic. Cones are back up in some areas this week to finish the last of the work -- for the last time, many business owners hope.

Paul Lindstrom, city senior project manager, said Monday he anticipated paving work on the side streets being completed Tuesday afternoon. He said the rest of this week would be used to put down final pavement markings.

Lindstrom said the plan was to finish by May 1, but once again, bad weather caused delays. He said the city has yet to work out a final contract with D.F. Freeman because the main focus now is to get the work done.

"I think everybody sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but the weather just threw us for a loop," Lindstrom said.

Even after the final lift was completed and cones were pushed to the sides of the road, some businesses have seen little increase in their traffic flow. At The Peanut West, owner Robin Roberts said not much had improved

Roberts said customers still reported that construction cones made them think twice before coming to the restaurant.

"It's always the topic of conversation, believe me," Roberts said.

Though also in the Shawnee Parkway Plaza retail area, Cameron Elliott, owner of the Scrapbook Page, said that construction has not kept his customers away recently.

However, he said his store filled a specific nitch and had loyal customers, and he could understand the frustration of businesses that have many competitors.

"People's patterns change," Elliott said. "If cones are up for four to six months, they'll put up with it. But if they're up longer than that, people will change their paths, and they'll find other businesses that fill their needs on those new paths."

Roberts wondered how some projects, like the 87th Street bridge over Interstate 35 in Lenexa, could seem to move along so quickly, while parkway construction dragged on. The Lenexa bridge was recently torn down overnight, she pointed out.

"They did that overnight, and they couldn't do ours in a year," Roberts said.