ZEELAND, Mich. — The Main Thing. As road construction again shuts down a portion of Main Avenue in downtown Zeeland, the city wants shoppers to stay local and try the back door.
"We need to rally around our businesses," said Abby DeRoo, the marketing director for the city. "Spend as much time and money here as we can, especially when it's hard."
On Monday, work resumed on Zeeland's Main Avenue Downtown Streetscape and Snowmelt Project, a four block, $10.2M plan that promises heated sidewalks and upgraded utilities on the avenue that's home much of downtown— the "heart and soul of the community," according to DeRoo.
Currently, the portion of Main Avenue between Elm and Church is closed for repairs, though the complete project will stretch from State Street to Maple Street.
Through the construction barrel-colored The Main Thing digital marketing campaign, residents are asked to support local businesses "despite the inconvenience of navigating construction," according to the city's website, so downtown Zeeland may continue to be "the main thing."
"We know that for the greater good of the community in the future, it's going to make a big difference," said Kim De Young, owner of Le Creme on Main Avenue.
For more than a year, the cafe and crepe spot has had time to prepare for the construction, planning to make use of its back entrance while outdoor seating and parking out front remain unavailable for the next six to eight weeks.
"Makes you a little nervous, because you don't know what to anticipate," De Young said. "But we are anticipating that people will still know how to find us."
Right outside downtown Zeeland, construction on the I-196 Business Loop will also lead to detours, with work on the divided highway expected to begin on Saturday, April 13 and finish in late November, according to MDOT.
The $17.5m project will rebuild 4.5 miles of eastbound and westbound lanes from US-31 in Holland to 88th Avenue in Zeeland.
"Our customers will still find us here," DeRoo said. "They just might have to take an extra minute or two to find the back door."
