Blindsided: Wayzata Business Owners Scramble to Prepare for Unexpected Road Closure

An unexpected audible called by the Metropolitan Council has downtown Wayzata businesses scrambling to prepare for what could be a nearly three-week shutdown of a key commercial artery.

The Met Council is currently in the final stages of installing a new forced sewer main along Lake Street. Krista Fragola—owner of the Maha! Boutique—said the project has noticibly impacted parking, traffic and sales over the last few months and Lake Street retailers had been anxiously waiting for work to be completed. Fragola said she understood the need for a new sewer line but was blindsided by news sent out via e-mail late Friday morning that Lake Street would close April 9 to all motorized traffic.

“They had always told us they weren’t going to shut the street down,” Fragola said.

Fragola went on to say the Met Council’s installation of new forced sewer mains on Lake Street has contributed to a “tough winter” that has only been augmented by spring’s late arrival this year.

“It's been tough for small, independent shops on the street because we haven't had spring yet," she said. "Then they told us at 10:30 a.m. on Friday that they were shutting down the street for three weeks. We had no time to plan. We have no rear entrance to our store—which we could have planned for had we known with even a couple of weeks notice.”

Wayzata City Councilman Andrew Mullin said he was “disappointed” by the short notice received by the city regarding the impending Lake Street shut down and the way it was communicated to the community but stressed the city had been working hard over the weekend to mitigate the impact and reduce the number of days Lake Street will be closed to traffic. Mullin said he and other city leaders had been in contact with both retailers on Lake Street and the Met Council over the last 24 hours and that "efforts were being made to mitigate the impact" to Wayzata's downtown business community. 

Current plans call for a complete closure of Lake Street between Broadway and Minnetonka Avenue beginning April 9. The municipal parking lot adjacent to Sunsets will remain open, and pedestrian traffic will still be able to access Lake Street businesses.

A tentative schedule of work over the next three weeks:

April 9-13: Saw-cutting of pavement, pavement removal, installation of dewatering and dewatering
April 15-19: Installation of pipe across Lake Street and connection at Broadway Avenue.
April 22-26: Testing of new force main.

A Call to the Community

Both Councilman Mullin and Fragola, the owner of Maha!, said the continuing support of the Lake Minnetonka community is needed to help Lake Street retailers during the road closure and through the duration of the sewer main's construction.

"We want the community to know that some of the small, independent restaurants and businesses on Lake Street could be in jeopardy if this significanly impacts our sales," Fragola said. "We have an amazing community, and we're asking them to come out and support us."

Fragola additionally wants the community to know that virtually all of the affected retailers have rear entries that shoppers can access. For those that do not, shared access is being coordinated with neighboring businesses—as Maha is doing with Gianni's Steakhouse.

"Everything is accessible, and you can still walk on the sidewalk," Fragola said. "If everyone rallies and continues to support the Lake Street businesses than I think everything will be fine. We just need people to know that we are here and open for business."