Downtown businesses have been stuck in the middle of Cape Girardeau's Broadway corridor project, which began last spring.

Cape Girardeau city engineer Casey Brunke said that there hasn't been any specific concerns -- other than parking -- related to the construction on Broadway.

"We've signed an agreement with Trinity Lutheran Church at the corner of Broadway St. and Middle St. to do a parking lot there," Brunke said. "That should provide approximately 50 new parking spaces. We're still continuing to work with other property owners along Broadway to do something similar."

Owner of Pitter's Cafe and Lounge Timexx Seabaugh said that because of all the construction directly outside of his business, he has had to change his once daily operating hours to being open only Wednesdays and weekends. Hours will remain the same until Nov. 1, which is when he was told construction is to near completion.

Seabaugh also said out-of-state bands traveling to perform tend to get lost because many of them use Google Maps to navigate, which does not account for the current detours.

According to Seabaugh, parking has not been much of an issue for his customers.

"We still have a lot of clientele," Seabaugh said. "Students still walk here from campus."

Howard's Athletic Goods employee Jack McDonald said that the street is a mess now, but in the long run it'll be better.

"We still sell a lot of Frisbees, so I don't think that the road construction has hurt business," McDonald said.

Howard's is an athletic-apparel and sporting-goods store located at the corner of Broadway and N. Pacific St.

Howard's has also been selling a steady amount of high school uniforms since construction began, despite the limited parking, according to McDonald. Customers are asked to park in the rear lot behind the store, and use the side entrance.

The city is continuing to research and talk to property owners to try and get a few more parking lots.

"There have been some issues here and there, but nothing has stood out really, except for the parking," Brunke said. "The city is diligent in finding other areas that parking is available."

Brunke said that there is a lot of available parking behind businesses on Broadway. If people don't frequent those businesses, they just don't know about it.

"For example, Broadway Prescription Shop has a parking lot behind their business with a nice ramp to get to the building," Brunke said. "A lot of the buildings on Broadway have parking behind. It's just that it's not utilized and it's not on the forefront of everyone's mind when they're driving down the street."

Brunke said parking is the biggest issue that the city has encountered related to the Broadway construction, and the city is continuing to work on it.

"Hopefully we will get it fixed even better than it was before," Brunke said.

According to Brunke, the pavement, sidewalks, curb and gutter, storm sewer and lighting completion date is set for Nov. 5. The final completion which includes landscaping, trees, tree grates, benches, trash receptacles, bicycle racks and any other remaining items will be completed by April 1.