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Harrison Street businesses excited for construction to end sooner than expected

A sign in Davenport on the corner of Locust Street and Harrison Street isn’t just a reminder to drivers that businesses along Harrison Street are open, it...

A sign in Davenport on the corner of Locust Street and Harrison Street isn't just a reminder to drivers that businesses along Harrison Street are open, it's a last ditch effort to get customers.

"Short of begging, I've tried everything I can think of," East Side Bakery and Pizza owner Nikki LaTray said.

Since work on the road started, LaTray's customer numbers plummeted and the amount of baked goods made each day were cut in half to avoid waste.

"Too long. I can't even remember the exact date they started construction and shutting it down. It seems like a century," LaTray said.

It was even worse down the road at Rock's Anchor Grill. The lack of customers forced owner Rock Eddleman to cut their hours, losing about $300 in business a day.

"I'm down employees and stuff because of that. I don't have the same amount of employees I had before," Eddleman said.

All they could do is wait and hope construction would end sooner rather than later.

Now, hearing road work is set to end by November 21st, the immediate reaction is that of joy.

"Yay!! I cross my fingers. It would be nice, especially now before the holidays, it would be nice," LaTray said.

"It'd be great. We'll be open Thanksgiving. It'd be great for us," Eddleman said.

After hearing date after date for when construction would end, these Harrison Street businesses now wait just a bit longer.

"If they do open early, it would be a blessing. It really would," LaTray said.

They're excited to finally see the orange cones disappear.

The work on Harrison Street started in mid-August and was contracted through December 28th, but then business owners were told the work would finish up just after Thanksgiving because they were able to get the work done faster than expected. Now, the work is set to be done by this year's Festival of Trees celebration.

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