East Seventh makeover complete; business owners hope customers return

[KevinFromTexas]

http://www.statesman.com/news/local/...s-1719278.html

East Seventh makeover complete; business owners hope customers return

By Ben Wear
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Published: 8:44 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2011

The seemingly immutable sawhorses, orange barrels and plowed-up lanes of East Seventh Street have given way, finally, to new sidewalks, streetlights, gutters, medians, smooth pavement and bricked crosswalks.

Three years or so of construction on East Seventh between Navasota Street and Pleasant Valley Road in East Austin ended Sunday , the City of Austin said, although there could be a few last lane closures now and then in coming weeks for some finishing touches. The result of the $16.5 million project is an aesthetic success, some East Seventh Street business owners said Tuesday, but they added that the economic side effects make it hard to appreciate the newly scenic boulevard.

"Oh, it's beautiful. No two ways about it, it's beautiful," said Fidel Estrada , owner of Estrada's Cleaners at 2618 E. Seventh St. for the past half century. What hasn't been beautiful is what Estrada said has been the loss of millions of dollars in revenue since the reconstruction began in March 2010 . Business owners along the 1.2-mile stretch have said that the road work has driven customers away.