Crews hit Main Street Polson

POLSON — Main Street business owners are banding together beginning this week with a coupon campaign they’re hoping will bustle business during a water main replacement project that is closing portions of the street.

The project will add and replace water pipes through fives blocks on Main Street. The first block was completed on Tuesday. While sidewalks  remain open, traffic will be rerouted block-by-block as work continues.

Members of the Polson Business Community, worried about tough economic times already, hatched the promotional idea to encourage patronage up and down the Main Street area.

Each participating merchant drew up its own coupons, deciding what deal to offer and how long it will be valid. Coupons have been distributed to other businesses and will be given to patrons as purchases are made.

“Downtown will be open for business,” PBC promotional chairman Jackie Cripe said. “We just feel like we want to thank our customers for coming down. They may have to walk an extra block to get to us.”

Posters outside businesses will detail the special offers.

The $94,000 stimulus-funded water project causing the disruption will replace 8 inch water mains with 12 inch pipes under five blocks of the road. A strip has been cut into the middle of the street as crews worked to replace the pipe beginning at the south end of Main Street, near Pier 93.

Water and sewer superintendent Tony Porrazzo estimated 3-5 days to complete each block. Each block will be entirely cut off to traffic during construction, with the exception of emergency vehicles.

“We’re going to be as user-friendly as we can, but safety is first,” Porrazzo said.

Business owners on Main Street have also been discussing how to best defray side effects of another project slated to begin sometime this year.

The approximately $1.4 million Streetscape project to improve sidewalk and street areas along Main Street received final budget approval in December. The work on this project would tear up sidewalks on Main Street, adding water main hookups, new sidewalks, pedestrian bulb-outs and areas for later landscaping and decorative aspects.

Start dates have ranged from early this summer to after Labor Day. The project packet is currently under review at the state level, Streetscape ask Force member Becky Dupuis said. If the bid process and contractor selection goes smoothly, the very earliest construction could begin would be the third week of April, Dupuis said.

In the past weeks, some business owners have expressed worry that having large portions of the sidewalks upended during peak tourist months.

PBC president Ken Avison said last week a survey will be distributed to gain input on what merchants would prefer for Streetscape start dates. Polson city manager Todd Crossett said at Monday night’s commissioner meeting he has been working with Avison and the business owners to find the best start date. He guessed it may not begin until after Labor Day.

Dupuis said the survey and cost assessments would play into setting a start date. One option could include completing two blocks before Memorial Day and picking up construction after the tourist season, she said.

Things like landscpaing, bike racks and lighting would come in later phases if more funding was secured, Dupuis said.