Photos by Deb Gau Orange barrels marked the edge of the sidewalk outside Atlantic Place restaurant, as construction crews prepare for paving work on West College Drive. Road closures during a major Highway 19 reconstruction in Marshall have posed a challenge to several local businesses this summer. Below, signs mark the start of the construction zone near the intersection of Marvin Schwan Memorial Drive and West College Drive. The intersection also served as a crossing point to access public parking lots along College Drive.

MARSHALL — The Ag Plus Marshall West convenience store on Country Club Drive is normally a busy place for morning coffee, manager Aaron Yoakum said.

“Usually the town talk of Marshall happens here,” he said.

But things have changed this summer, as a major highway reconstruction project has limited access to parts of West College Drive and Country Club Drive.

“We’ve seen a drop in foot traffic and sales as soon as the work began,” Yoakum said.

The Marshall West c-store isn’t alone. Businesses along Highway 19 (West College Drive) in Marshall have been affected in different ways, as the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the city of Marshall update the highway and utility lines. The Highway 19 project is planned to take two construction seasons, with work this summer focusing on West College Drive between Fairgrounds Road and Main Street.

Business owners along Highway 19 and Country Club Drive said construction and road closures in the area have affected access to their businesses. Yoakum and Rita Smidt, owner of the Dairy Queen on Country Club Drive, said while they still had street access, customer traffic was down.

“During the day, we’re really down,” Smidt said. “It’s not good.”

Smidt said the Dairy Queen was still open for business, unless construction needed to cut water access temporarily. “We’re just doing what we can,” she said.

Yoakum said Ag Plus was doing some things to try and encourage customers to visit the Marshall West location, like offering special rewards perks during construction. But at the same time, Ag Plus posted on Facebook earlier this week that it also would be adjusting its business hours at that location.

Yoakum said Ag Plus staff have appreciated the customers who have still come to the Marshall West store during construction. “During a time like this, they’re royalty,” he said.

Further down West College Drive, construction meant several Marshall businesses lost access to their front doors. Printed signs pointed the way to temporary customer entrances off of Hamden Street. At Carrow’s Marshall Cleaners, staff set up a temporary drop-off and pick-up area for customers at the back of the business.

Brian Sieber, at Arnold Motor Supply, said construction on West College Drive had reduced the foot traffic at the auto parts store.

“It’s affected business quite a bit,” Sieber said. “We still try to contact customers as best we can,” and Arnold Motors had a salesperson who could go out to customers, he said.

Changing street conditions and parking access have also had an affect on local businesses during the Highway 19 project. Mindy Knochenmus, managing partner at The Upper Room in Marshall, said it has been “business as usual” for the event venue this summer, because events like weddings were booked far in advance of the construction. But Knochenmus and venue coordinator Renee Sanders said they have been working with contractors and MnDOT to make sure clients are able to safely get to The Upper Room and public parking downtown.

“I think the challenge has primarily been day-to-day changes,” Sanders said. For example, construction sometimes made it harder for deliveries or equipment to get to The Upper Room, and rainy weather could create mud and wash gravel out of the parking lot access.

Sanders said she has also been in “constant contact” with brides to help keep them informed and answer questions this summer. “Clients have been very understanding,” Sanders said.

Knochenmus and Sanders said parking access has been an important issue not just for The Upper Room, but for all the businesses in the Atlantic building. The building, at the corner of Main Street and College Drive, is home to the Ralco offices, U.S. Bank, Echelon Wealth Partners, Atlantic Place restaurant, and Wings Axe Company.

Communication with construction contractors and MnDOT has been helpful, said Knochenmus and Sanders.

This summer, MnDOT, the city of Marshall and representatives of R and G Construction have held weekly meetings at Marshall’s City Hall, where members of the public can ask questions and voice concerns.

“It’s been great to have those weekly meetings,” Sanders said.

“There has been a lot of questions and concerns from business owners that are located on the Highway 19 project, but across town,” said Erika Coudron, of R and G Construction. “The first question always asked is how are we going to provide access. Then it is usually followed up with, how long is it going to last?”

In addition to attending the weekly construction meetings, Coudron said R and G emails out regular project updates. They’ve also gone door-to-door in affected neighborhoods, and passed out flyers with contact information.

“We work with the business owners to coordinate any water shutdowns and other matters that may come up,” Coudron said. “Any challenges that have come about – and there has been some – pertaining to providing access (to businesses), R and G Construction has been able to work with MnDOT, the city of Marshall, and those who are impacted to come up with a safe solution.”

“At the end of the day, we want to ensure safety for all business owners, their patrons, and all the workers that are out here making these infrastructure improvements on Highway 19,” she said.

“Erika has been amazing to work with,” Sanders said.

While some Marshall businesses have seen less or the same customer traffic during the Highway 19 project, the Casey’s gas station on East Main Street has been busy, staff said.

“We’ve been busier than normal,” said store manager Jessica Harley. The number of people coming in for things like morning coffee has been up, too. Harley said it was possible that the increase in customers was a seasonal change, but the difference was drastic.

Harley said traffic at the nearby Main Street/College Drive intersection could be difficult to deal with at certain times of day, but it didn’t seem to be driving customers away.

“I have been giving lots of people directions on how to get places,” during construction, Harley said.

Although work on Highway 19 was having an impact on their businesses, local businesspeople said the highway updates needed to be done.

“It will be positive in the end,” Sieber said. He said Arnold Motor Supply had been through ups and downs in Marshall before. “We’ll get through it,” he said.

Work on Highway 19 in Marshall will continue this summer, with the construction of a roundabout near the National Guard Armory, and street and utility work on the segment of road between South Fourth Street and Legion Field Park.

Construction is scheduled to be suspended on October 26, and then pick up again next spring. The half of the project planned for 2026 will continue down East College drive, between the intersection with Main Street and the intersection with Bruce Street.