River Drive in Davenport has been fully open for weeks and while more traffic is moving through there, businesses say it doesn't mean more customers are coming through their doors.
"We're not quite where we were before the construction yet," Java Java Co-Owner Debbie VanZuiden says.
Customers are slowly trickling back to the coffee shop after months of road closures.
"We're probably back up to about 50 percent of our normal, we're struggling through, we'll probably make it," VanZuiden says.
The coffee shop was one of many businesses hit hard by the construction. They only did about 30 percent of their normal business and had to cut store hours and employees.
They're still seeing some of those effects today.
"We still have the limited hours because we don't see the benefit of having it past 3 o'clock," VanZuiden says, "Nobody stops anymore and there's just no traffic, we just can't afford it."
At the Boat House, owners say every day is hit or miss.
"We just haven't seen the great influx of people coming back here," Boat House Co-Owner Lori Bentley says, "We feel that it's probably because they found another way to get to their destination."
This winter is especially hard on the Boat House, owners say they usually save up during the business boom in the summer to make it through slower seasons. That's something they weren't able to do this year.
"Summer was slow, there were days we maybe served 20 people," Bentley says.
Before construction, the owners say they would serve up to 100 just at lunch. It's something they hope to get back to soon.
"2012 probably goes down as being one of our poorest years on record," Bentley says, "We just have to hope 2013 will be better."
These lanes are open for now but come springtime, two lanes will be closed as Public Works finishes resurfacing. That's expected to last at least four weeks.
