SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Engineers said work on the Republic Road Widening Project is set to ramp up over the next few weeks. But business owners say their sales have done the exact opposite in the last six months since construction started.

“It has actually impacted my business a lot,” A Likely Story Boutique Owner Laurel Chapman said. “June and July in retail, as far as my store goes, are slower months. But just comparing this year to last year was at least a 38 to 40% loss as far as my overall numbers went.”

Chapman has been at her location near the intersection of Republic Road and Campbell Avenue for the last three years.

“Whenever I signed my lease three years ago, the former landlords told me that there was a proposed road construction going to be happening on,” Chapman said. “I knew it was coming and I kept waiting, but started it this year around spring break.”

The Republic Road Widening Project is a massive project aimed at adding more lanes to an already congested part of town.

“The contractors [have] mainly been working on storm sewers and other infrastructure east of the Campbell Republic intersection on Republic,” Civil Engineer Nicholas Edelman said. “Over the next 2 to 3 weeks, the plan for the contractor is to install the curb on the north side and get the new signal at Chase up on Republic. They’ll also be doing some paving operations over the next couple of weeks.”

The construction comes at a busy time for one business.

“Summer was our busiest time last year,” Springfield Açaí Bowl Manager Jayden Freeman said. “We were really hoping for that this summer. Unfortunately, it really hasn’t been crazy. We’re down about 30 to 40% in sales since we have the construction has started.”

The project was scheduled to be completed by December 2023. But Engelman said that date has been pushed back due to delays.

“If it potentially continues, we might have to close a day or something like that, but that’s complete speculation,” Freeman said. “We actually posted something today [saying] hey, we’re still here.”

The city said it will continue to restrict any lane closures to nighttime hours.