AURORA | Kristi Kleinholz, who manages the Outback Steakhouse on South Abilene Street, has kept business relatively the same since construction for the Aurora light rail line started blocking some entrances to the restaurant in early spring. That has taken a lot of work, she told RTD and city officials at a meeting held at the Aurora Public Library on May 22 for businesses impacted by ongoing construction. Her success in keeping customers hasn’t been the case for every business in the area.
“There are other businesses where I’m at near Abilene that were down 20 percent in sales,” she said. “They were reactive to the situation as opposed to being proactive.”
Kleinholz said being creative about how to promote the restaurant has kept customers coming back despite construction. She pointed to a coupon she created for a free appetizer that also provided a map of the light rail construction along with detours. She said customers were more likely to grab that handout than the informational piece of paper her corporate office initially suggested.
Kleinholz is an example of what impacted businesses should be doing to offset the financial impacts of the construction, said Chuck Hahn, a small business specialist at the City of Aurora’s Small Business Development Center. Even using prizes to attract customers is one of many suggestions the SBDC put together as part of its “Tool Box for Business” brochure, a resource guide for Aurora businesses located near the light rail’s path.
“We put down 20 or 30 suggestions to start getting the creative juices going,” Hahn said of the brochure. “Also reach out to other businesses in your area and come up with a strategic direction for marketing your businesses during this time period. We can help you with that if you’d like to consider us as a resource.”
The SBDC is offering all of its upcoming fee-based workshops for free to businesses affected by construction, he added. That’s in addition to free counseling the SBDC already offers small businesses, and he said the SBDC can even come out to help businesses who don’t have time go to the Aurora Municipal Center.
RTD officials emphasized at the meeting that construction impacts throughout the South Abilene and City Center areas will be ongoing into 2015.
“This will be the biggest, busiest year in construction. We’ll be working in most every area of the corridor by the end of this summer,” said Gabrielle Johnson, a spokesperson for Kiewit, the contractor for the light rail project.
Johnson said the design work for the eight stations located along the 10.5-mile line is 90 percent complete, with construction around 30 percent complete.
Construction begins this week on the westbound side of East Exposition Avenue to South Sable Boulevard, and will require right lane restrictions for commuters.
“There are going to be street-running trains down the center of Exposition,” said Tina Jaquez, spokeswoman for the RTD FasTracks I-225 Rail Line Project. “We’ll have a fence between the east and westbound trains as well as only a couple of intersections where people can make lefthand turns. All of the businesses on the north and south sides will have right-in right-out (access) on Exposition.”
Ward III City Councilwoman Marsha Berzins, whose ward lies in the construction area, said at the meeting she was concerned about the longterm delay in access to popular restaurants like Helga’s along Exposition. RTD officials said there would always be some point of access to a business and that detour signs would be provided for how to get there.
The city will be doing its part to let residents know businesses are open, city spokeswoman Lori MacKenzie said in a statement.
“We are installing multiple signs along both Exposition and Sable that will say ‘Open During Construction.’ These signs should be great visuals in letting residents know that businesses are open. Additionally we will be doing some postings on our website and social media sites encouraging residents to support those businesses affected during construction.”
Martha Evans who manages Encore Staffing Services on Exposition in the Aurora City Square shopping center, said she hasn’t been able to make the RTD meetings, but she has been keeping in contact with RTD officials via email. She said she’s not too worried about the construction affecting her.
“I don’t think it will impact our walk-ins,” she said.
RTD will also be discussing a change in the light rail’s alignment along Sable at East Middle School June 4.
“We have further refined (our) design and determined that for traffic movements through the intersection of Sable Boulevard and Alameda Avenue, it is safer for the train to remain on the east side through Ellsworth Avenue,” Jacquez said. RTD originally planned for the train to move through the center of Sable before it reached Alameda.
When it is completed in 2016, the light rail will connect riders to RTD’s East and Southeast rail lines as well as Anschutz Medical Campus and Denver International Airport through a transfer at Peoria to the East Rail Line.
Aurora SBDC’s Tool Box for Business Brochure: https://aurorasbdc.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Road-Closure-ToolBox-rev05.pdf
RTD FasTracks Helpful Hints for Businesses: https://www.rtd-fastracks.com/i225_147