Even though it's Halloween, there's not much orange left on Burnsville Parkway. And that's making businesses and city officials incredibly happy.

During the summer, orange construction cones and orange-and-white barricades filled the street as part of a $6.2 million project to upgrade the decades-old roadway.

"I'm glad it's over," said Tony Tram, manager of Saigon Palace restaurant on Burnsville Parkway. "Now it is a very nice road, very smooth."

Tram, like other business operators along the road, reported a drop in business of anywhere from 30 percent to 50 percent during the work.

Some businesses delayed hirings; others lost workers who couldn't survive on the reduced tips.

Two gas stations, an Oasis and a BP, went out of business, though only one might have died as a result of the construction work.

"The [BP] station was having problems before construction began," said Skip Nienhaus, Burnsville's economic development coordinator. "But I think the project might have been the final nail in the coffin."

Now that station is open again under new ownership, and traffic is flowing smoothly on the new Burnsville Parkway, which sees about 16,000 vehicles using it each day.

"I think everybody's happy that it's over," said Jim Skelly, a spokesman for the city of Burnsville.

And with the end of the project has come a return of customers to the numerous businesses on the street.

Tram, who said in July he was delaying hiring another waiter because of the drop in business, said last week he would probably hire someone this month now that business has picked up.

"Everything is getting back to normal," he said.

Incentives to finish fast

Nienhaus said the city knew there was going to be an economic disruption to area businesses because of the months-long project. So for the first time in its history, the city agreed to an incentive contract that gave the construction company a $10,000-a-day bonus for finishing the project early.

The company ended up finishing 10 days early; it got the work done in 55 days instead of the 65 estimated in the contract. Its reward: A $100,000 bonus.

"There's always a price for progress," said Brian Hehr, co-owner of Jensen's Cafe, whose business suffered only slightly from the work. "It needed to be done. I drive that thing five to seven times a week, and it was like riding one of those old fashioned roller coasters."

City officials and business owners think the bonus money was well-spent, given the traffic problems and headaches caused by the project.

Help for businesses

To help businesses, the city also suspended its sign ordinance and waived its signage fee to allow businesses along the construction route to put up signs saying they were still open and pointing out the best way to get to them.

"The signs really helped," said Tram, who saw business pick up after signs went up. "I'm glad the city did that."

Although the project was finished in late August ahead of schedule, there were still weeks of unexpected construction work at the intersection of Burnsville Parkway and Nicollet Avenue. That was caused by unforeseen water main problems unrelated to the project. That led to weeks of additional work.

Regardless, city officials considered the project a success. The end result figures to be an more attractive roadway.

"It certainly is a higher quality than we had before," said Craig Ebeling, Burnsville's city manager. "It will have some [benefits] for the Heart of the City."

Nienhaus said he's already heard anecdotal evidence from Realtors that the new parkway is helping to sell the city and its image.

"They said they used to avoid the area because it was so shabby and had potholes," Nienhaus said. "Now they drive customers through it."

Heron Marquez Estrada • 952-707-9994