Construction is definitely not everyone’s favorite thing, especially in a college town like Whitewater and especially on a main drag like Newcomb and Milwaukee Street.

The Newcomb and Milwaukee Street intersection construction started the beginning of March and will not be done until the end of July. There are three different stages to the overall construction to the area.

Stage one began in march and will continue through July, the Newcomb and Milwaukee Street intersection construction, stage two, will be happening July through November and that will consist of Milwaukee Street reconstruction from Newcomb Street to the Bluff Road roundabout. Stage three will not be under construction until April 2020. That will consist of Highway 59 reconstruction from Bluff Road roundabout to Highway 12.

Milwaukee Street is surrounded by local businesses and some of those businesses are being affected by the construction that is on going.

841 Brewhouse is a popular restaurant on the East side of town. The construction is not right on top of 841 Brewhouse yet but it is still affecting the flow of costumers.

Emily Leising is an employee from 841 Brewhouse and personally it is annoying to her while driving to work but there was also issues with costumers being able to get to and from the university from 841.

“The construction was an issue on Sunday. We had a dinner rush for costumers that were heading to the play (located at the university) and they were unsure of what way they should take to get there. The detour signs do not seem to be super visible for them so if that process could be better that would help costumers get to us easier,” said Leising.

A Touch of Sun is located inside a building that is also shared with The Coffee Shop and Eastside Laundry. All of these businesses are located on Milwaukee Street.

Annica Hillquist an employee from A Touch of Sun and she was able to talk about how the construction is making its way closer to their business and how it’s affecting the ability for costumers to find a parking spot.

“I would say the main thing is that costumers do not know where to park. We get a lot of calls asking how to get to the salon and where to park. A lot of people will park in crazy places, like over by Subway and walk all the way here or we even had someone park by the railroad tracks.” Hillquist laughed.

It’s more of a downfall for costumers and not entirely the business yet but Hillquist replied with “they are still making their way here, which is nice and we appreciate it. I do not know what will happen when the construction will be right in front of our business but as of right now they are still making their way here.”

Businesses ahead of the construction are not being affected as much for example, Rick’s Eastside Pub. Buddy Leubke the manager of Rick’s Eastside Pub mentioned that he was not sure that Rick’s was being affected yet.

“We are right at the beginning of the construction. From downtown we are the last business before it,” Luebke said.

The reconstruction of Milwaukee Road is underway. There is a detour for people that are going that way. The best way to avoid the construction is to follow the detour signs, which will take you on Dan St. onto Clay St., which will take you completely around the construction.