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Company President Phil Quillin said sales were down 30 percent since road reconstruction blocked off West Avenue’s southbound lanes and access to and from Pine Street.
The road’s redesign also will restrict northbound traffic from making left turns onto Pine.
“It does limit, to a degree, the viability of certain businesses if they were to relocate to West Avenue and Pine,” city council president Bill Harnden said.
Pine was one of two side streets where full access was sacrificed for new medians at the intersections.
“The median was added to provide a safer roadway by eliminating the left turn movements of vehicles off of West Avenue and also provide a safe refuge for pedestrians crossing the street,” said Steve Flottmeyer, project development supervisor with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.
The city’s West Avenue Design Review Committee foresaw the impact of the road realignment on nearby businesses several years ago and pushed for a traffic signal at Pine — the halfway point between La Crosse and State streets.
Harnden, chairman of that committee, said the panel couldn’t convince the DOT to keep it open.
“Their reason always was that it did not meet the criteria for cross traffic,” Harnden said. “But common sense said otherwise.”
While DOT resisted making accommodations for cars, it did readjust the plans for foot traffic, ultimately agreeing — albeit reluctantly, according to Harnden, to a pedestrian-activated traffic signal at the site.
