8th Street construction impacting local businesses
BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Construction of the final section of Bentonville’s portion of 8th Street is impacting businesses in the 8th Street Market area.
Sadie Skaggs, employee at Hillfolk, says she doesn’t love the construction.
“Every single time I drive down the street, I feel like it’s a different thing. It’s definitely disruptive in my day-to-day life,” Skaggs said,
At the craft store, Skaggs says the construction is affecting the business.
Customers call every day because they don’t know where they are or where to go.
“I see a million Detour signs, but I don’t know which one to take, especially back in The Momentary area, we have people just so stuck,” Skaggs said.
She tries to direct them but is unsuccessful.
“This street is closed now. And I’m like, ‘Oh, well, it wasn’t yesterday,’ so it is hard. I’m like, ‘Should I scope it out before I go into work, see what’s going on so I can better help people?’” Skaggs said.
She says some customers live down the street, but it takes them 30 minutes to get to their building.
“They don’t have Google Maps readily available. They just rely on the street signs and maps that don’t have updates every day,” Skaggs said.
How long until Bentonville finishes 8th Street projects
Some customers even cancel or come late to their workshop class at Hillfolk because of the construction.
“We do have people being like, ‘I’m not going to come in today because the construction is so bad, and I literally can’t get through it.’ Which is really not great,” Skaggs said.
She says it’s unfortunate because the customers spend their hard-earned money on classes.
Skaggs says it also impacts the employees because they all live in the area.
“We all have to drive in to work, and the entrances will just be closed one day. So, you have to turn around, and you can’t really turn around anywhere because all the streets you used to turn around on are closed,” Skaggs said.
Two Friends Bookstore employee Blake Worthey is not a fan of the construction either.
He says it feels like you can’t shop at 8th Street Market if you can’t afford a new tire.
“The rocks, the debris, the amount of time, like the longer that I’m in traffic, the more likely it is I could lose a tire,” Worthey said.
Worthey says he hopes construction will be done by summertime this year.
“So people can kind of joy this small little walkable part of town,” Worthey said.
The city plans to have SW 8th Street become a 5-lane boulevard with raised medians in various locations and all types of transportation.
This will also lead up to the new Walmart Home Office campus.
“I know it’s necessary and it’s awesome that we’re getting the new Walmart Home Office and everything, which is so great for the city. I love watching the city grow, especially since I’ve been here since I was a kid,” Skaggs said. “But, it can definitely get frustrating when it takes me like 20 extra minutes to go pick on my brothers and all that kind of stuff. It does get frustrating.”
The city’s contractor tells Mayor Stephanie Orman that the final section of the city’s portion of 8th Street in front of 8th Street Market will be done at the end of June.
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