Bass Lake Road Project to End Sooner Than Expected
The Bass Lake Road streetscape project in Crystal is wrapping up sooner than expected. The project started in early May and most of the heavy construction is expected to end July 6.
The one-quarter-mile project starts at Yates Avenue and extends to West Broadway. The two-lane road was reduced to one lane during construction, causing plenty of traffic backups
Upgrades Meant to Help Businesses
City officials wanted to improve the 1980s streetscape to help businesses. They reconstructed the sidewalks and made them wider. The city also added LED lighting and put in more green space. But the big selling point to businesses was additional parking in front of their stores.
“What people want now is convenience, access and visibility, and that’s why you see more and more malls, putting the parking right in front of the businesses,” explained Crystal Community Developer Director John Sutter. “So, that’s a key element to this project, adding 12 spaces of on street parallel parking in front of the larger block of buildings.”
Once this project is finished, residents will see flowers, park benches and bike racks. Local businesses owners say they are glad the project is winding down earlier than expected. The owners of Egg House Café say their business is down about 65 percent.
“We’re very excited, it looks beautiful out here, and we’re very much looking forward to having our business back,” employee Justin Winans said.
Project Funding
Weather helped move the project along faster than anticipated. The project cost about $600,000. None of the expenses will come from the city’s general fund. Here’s how funding for the project breaks down:
$200,000 Hennepin County grant
$330,000 From an expiring tax increment district elsewhere in the city
$70,000 Street Light Utility Fund
