Farmington

'It's happening'

By David Wallace
C & G Staff Writer

City marks start of Downtown Streetscape construction

FARMINGTON — With the Grand River Streetscape construction already well under way in the background, city officials and residents gathered at Riley Park May 16 to commemorate the major revitalization project’s beginning.

The project’s roots date to the City Council’s 2004 adoption of a new master plan. A lot of work took place in the meantime, and residents supported the project in a vote last August.

Seeing so much work culminate in tangible construction created an excitement among the celebrants at the park — an excitement that Dana Dunlop, promotions assistant at the Farmington DDA, put into words.

“On behalf of the DDA, the city of Farmington, the 160 merchants in downtown and the community, I would like to say, ‘It’s happening,’” said Dunlop.

At that moment, many in the crowd blew paper noisemakers in celebration.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson told those gathered, which included people from the Farmington Farmers & Artisans Market at the park, that they made a wise choice to support the downtown.

“I think it’s going to bring traffic; it’s going to bring investment; it’s going to bring visitors; it’s going to bring a lot of action to your downtown. The 160 merchants who are represented here, some of which are here this morning, I’m sure you’re going to enjoy that,” said Patterson.

He said 32 of 61 Oakland County communities have downtowns.

“You’re blessed with one of those, and I’m glad to see you take such good care of it,” said Patterson.

“Generations of Farmington residents for years to come are going to enjoy the benefits of your hard work,” he said.

Downtown Development Authority President Greg Cowley said some benefits already are taking shape.

“It’s already bringing investment to the downtown — yet to be announced. A number of projects are already in the works. So it’s already paying dividends, even though we just broke ground,” said Cowley.

The construction thus far tore out part of the westbound lanes on the north side of the avenue, though access remains to the sidewalk in front of the businesses. Almost all of the businesses on the north side have rear-door access and parking available via Farmington Road.

Becky Burns, co-owner of Sunflower Bakehaus with her husband, Jeff Pavlik, said her business so far had a good experience with the construction. A driveway next to the bakery provides access from Grand River.

“We’re really impressed with how the construction is going,” said Burns. “I want to say it was less than an hour from the time that they tore out the concrete and the time that they actually put in the dirt and rock for the new driveway, and then they were out of the way.

“They block the driveway off quite a bit to do their work, but as soon as they’re done, then they move out of the way. And they’re really respectful and considerate of businesses.”

She is especially pleased with how customers are responding to the situation.

“We had a regular business week this week. We did not feel anything with the construction, and I was really worried that business was going to die as soon as construction started,” said Burns.

“We have a lot of customers telling us that they’re definitely making an effort to come in, because they want to make sure we do OK during the construction. And then we’ve actually had a couple of people who have come in specifically because they happened to drive by and saw that there was construction. And they wanted to make sure that they came in and supported us while they were driving by, because they know that construction can hurt businesses,” said Burns.

She said she felt “so grateful,” and hoped that the support would continue.

On the south side of Grand River, Evolve Body Art Studio is a new business coping with the construction. Body artist and piercer Tiffany Cole said business has slowed since the construction started.

Vehicles traveling on Grand River cannot turn left onto Farmington Road with the construction, which makes it difficult for customers driving on Grand River and looking to use Farmington Road to park behind the businesses.

“That seems to be the only problem I have noticed,” said Cole.

She said that sometimes people try to turn anyway, and traffic backs up as a result.

Both Burns and Cole sounded optimistic about the future, once construction concludes.

“We’re excited about how it’s going to look when it’s done,” said Burns.

“It’s for the better good,” said Cole. “Farmington’s going to be beautiful when it’s done.”

You can reach C & G Staff Writer David Wallace at dwallace@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1053.