15-05-2025
Rockford pauses construction on Fridays to accommodate City Market
ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — The 2025 Rockford City Market will get underway Friday, but construction on Madison Street has some residents concerned.
The construction is expected to last all summer.
'Madison Street Construction started Monday, so we anticipate the construction to take all construction season. So by about November. So we should be looking to be complete with it,' said Interim Director of Public Works, Tim Hinkens.
The road will be resurfaced and will receive new lights and sidewalks.
Some business owners in the area are worried that the construction will deter customers.
Ryan Smiley, owner of Smiley's Vintage, a clothing shop at 120 N Madison Street, said he's optimistic.
'I mean, of course it's there's a little bit of uncertainty with it, but, you know, I think I we're just going to try and poise ourselves to not only survive during this, but to thrive,' Smiley said.
Friday is the opening day for the outdoor City Market, and city officials are still confident people will show up.
'All through the design of this thing, we knew that this would be impacting the City Market, the local businesses along there as well as any other special event that was going on. So we took very special care to make sure that we communicated with the business owners,' Hinkens said.
Construction will be paused on Fridays.
'During our pre-construction conference with our contractor who is doing the work, we made it quite clear to end work early on Fridays to make sure that they don't interfere with the city market,' Hinkens said.
During the Market, travelers headed West are urged to use Jefferson Street and those headed East to use Chestnut Street.
The Market Pavilion will close at 1 p.m. on Fridays for vendor setup, and road closures will begin from 2 p.m. until 10:30 p.m.
Trolley schedules and a parking map can be .
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