Many downtown merchants, particularly eateries, reported that they felt the sting of Front Street North’s full-weekend closure in their receipts.

Parking and driving were forbidden on Front between Sunset Way and Northeast Dogwood Street on the weekend of Aug. 6 and 7. The traffic restriction was officially supposed to last from 10 p.m. on Friday Aug. 5 to 6 a.m. on Monday Aug. 8 according to the city’s press release, but crews actually finished their work and opened the street back up Sunday afternoon.

The closure was part of the city’s summer-long street improvement project that involves creating wider sidewalks, redoing the railroad crossing at Northeast Dogwood Street and overlaying Front Street with new asphalt.

Shops, restaurants and bars on the main thoroughfare experienced a notable decrease in foot traffic on what normally would have been a busy summer weekend.

Eric Paschal, owner of Levitate Gastropub, said that profits were down by “15 to 20 percent” on Saturday, when the street was closed for the entirety of the day and night.

“I definitely attribute it to the construction,” Paschal said.

Across the street, Chicago Pastrami’s numbers received even more of a hit.

“Sales were way down …we lost two-thirds, I’d say,” store manager Scott Tippin stated. The restaurant had to close early both weekend days.

“We had no street, no parking … does it impact us? Of course,” said Claude Blumenzweig, who has owned wine bar Vino Bella for 10 years. He surmised that people who would normally have been customers likely made it a point to avoid downtown altogether last weekend.

Other potential customers may have steered clear of Front Street because they weren’t aware businesses were open, despite numerous postings by the city and other entities encouraging people to visit the businesses as usual.

Brandon Mather, acting manager of music shop Music and Arts, reported receiving many phone calls from people who thought that the stores were closed, and were unsure how to get to Front Street in the midst of the construction.

“We definitely had a lot less people than we would normally have,” Mather said.

Paschal said that Levitate tried to combat the fear of going downtown with postings on social media assuring the public that the locale was open and alternate parking was available. Still, he and his team are “always a little concerned when we don’t have easy access [to the business],” he said.

Perfect Nails and ArtEast reported a decrease in business not just last weekend, but the entire summer, as frequent construction and parking restrictions have made the downtown a less-than-ideal hotspot for locals and summer tourists.

“Business has been a little lower all summer because of the construction … for some people, if they were thinking about stopping and it was too congested and they didn’t see any available parking, they didn’t stop,” said Carla Villar, executive director of ArtEast. “If you’re a tourist in town … [construction and noise] make it a less attractive place to hang out.”

“I think we’ve got more issues than sidewalks,” Blumenzweig said, suggesting that narrow sidewalks may not be the downtown’s biggest problem.

An off-and-on loss in outdoor seating for Front Street restaurants has also been a challenge.

“We have such a short window for outside seating … it puts a big impact on them,” Blumenzweig said of his neighbors who have been affected.

Las Margaritas manager Diego Garza said that normally on a summer night, the Mexican eatery’s entire outdoor seating section is full. Still, he remains positive. “[Front Street] is looking nice, I can’t complain,” he said. “Hopefully it’s for the betterment of the city.”

Like Garza, merchants are finding ways to look at the bright side.

“We certainly appreciate that … they were able to get done ahead of schedule [on Sunday],” Villar said.

A few businesses, such as the Bicycle Center of Issaquah and Fischer Meats, have not noticed any difference in sales.

Kelsi Lindus, communications manager for Village Theatre, told the Reporter in an email, “We’ve had smooth communication with both the city of Issaquah and the Downtown Issaquah Association, and have been able to alert our patrons well in advance about road closures and possible delays. We have not seen an impact regarding ticket sales.”

Public Works Engineering Project Coordinator Pam Fox said that this should be the only time that the street is closed for an entire weekend.

The city had originally projected that the construction would be done by Salmon Days at the beginning of October, but Public Works Engineering Director Sheldon Lynne said that the end date is looking to be early September.