EAGLE, ID — The Eagle Saturday Market is back, but this time it will be held at City Hall. Business owners are concerned that the move will result in less foot traffic and less business.
- The first Saturday market in 2024 will be May 4th.
- Due to heavy traffic due to road construction, the market was relocated to the Eagle City Hall parking lot.
- Many business owners fear the move will take away the foot traffic their stores typically see.
- The current road construction is part of ACHD's multi-year project.
- Click here to learn more about the Downtown Eagle Mobility Project.
(The following is a transcript of the broadcast content.)
The Saturday Market is back in Eagle, but the market has been relocated to the City Hall parking lot because construction downtown is disrupting traffic flow. I'm Alexander Huddleston, Eagle neighborhood reporter. I talk a lot with business owners in this area. A few weeks ago, they told me about the adjustments, worried that they wouldn't see the typical Saturday morning foot traffic.
Eagle's main entrance to downtown has now been closed for a month. The intersection closure diverted all traffic onto his 2nd Avenue.
“There's a lot of traffic on this street right now, so it's going to be pretty congested because we have to go one car at a time,” said Melissa Leche, owner of Fusion Glass Studio.
However, this is not the kind of traffic business owners are looking for.
“We're expecting over 100 people to show up on Saturday,” said Toni McClain of Donovan James.
“We sometimes bring the kids and make projects, so when the Saturday market is held, a lot of people go,” Leche said.
However, this year, the Saturday market will take off. Due to heavy traffic, the city decided to hold the event in the City Hall parking lot. The move concerned many business owners downtown.
Reche added, “I'm a little concerned because we're not getting as much walk-in traffic and we're pretty much reliant on walk-in traffic.”
But Lesh said business is already hurting because of the lack of shoppers in downtown Eagle.
“What's happening with construction is people are generally avoiding downtown because it's a hassle to get around,” Leche explained.
Leche worries that market shoppers will simply go home instead of making the half-mile trip to the Strip.
But McClain explained that even though traffic and construction may be holding people back, regulars know they will always find their destination.
“The city is going to take various steps to mitigate that and help send people to us. But our regular customers will come,” McClain concluded. .
Many business owners I spoke to said that while they are certainly concerned about reduced foot traffic at this time of year, they understand that at the end of the day, infrastructure needs to be adjusted. Ta.
