4 days ago
Road construction shifts gears for Sioux Falls bike shop
SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — Construction on the Interstate 229 interchange in Sioux Falls means plenty of detours for drivers taking South Cliff Avenue, which is now closed.
But people on two-wheels are finding an alternate route — on the bike path.
Elliot Flaa and his 4-year-old son Elias made a pit stop at Spoke-N-Sport after the chain came off Elias' bicycle while riding the bike trail.
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'We thought we'd hop by and get the chain fixed. It's all ready to go and now we're ready to hit the bike trail again,' Flaa said.
Spoke-N-Sport says business has remained steady despite Cliff Avenue being closed just down the road from the bike shop.
'It's ebbed and flowed. The day that they shut down the underpass, we were actually very busy. We do get a lot of traffic from the bike trail itself,' Spoke-N-Sport Service Manager Isaac Kaske said.
Sometimes the road construction itself has led to new ride-up traffic here at Spoke-N-Sport.
'Especially when they had the mats down for the construction. People were getting flats on that, a lot. So, kind of convenient: if you're going to get get a flat, at least it's right outside of a bike shop. We were probably doing 10 flats a day, just from that,' Kaske said.
Flaa prefers the bike path as a way to avoid construction-related congestion on the roads.
'It's just good exercise, good bonding time with the kids and I don't have to worry about all the lights and construction paths I gotta go through,' Flaa said.
This is the busiest time of year for bike shops and the first full year of Spoke-N-Sport's expansion. So the staff will be looking forward to when Cliff Avenue reopens to traffic in another couple of months.
'Come buy an e-bike. Come buy a bike. Get out there. It's going to be a beautiful summer,' Kaske said.
Kaske says Spoke-N-Sport gets between 10-15 calls a day from customers asking how to get to the shop.
He tells callers that it all depends on where they're coming from.
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