News Photo by Crystal Nelson Alcona Brew Haus server Janene Lacey and bartender Lindsey Brockwell on Thursday pour a glass of beer at the brew pub in Harrisville.

A needed reconstruction project on U.S.-23 near Harrisville will force a closure of about a two-mile stretch of the highway for more than two months and reroute motorists on a lengthy detour.

It is likely the state project will burden already struggling businesses even more.

According to Michigan Department of Transportation-Alpena Service Manager Garrett Dawe, the project should kick-off about April 12 and will encompass U.S.-23 from Washington Street near Harrisville, and a two-mile stretch heading north.

Dawe said the road hasn’t had extensive construction on it for many years, and the concrete was originally poured in the 1930s. He said the old concrete, sand, and gravel will be removed and replaced. He said once done, the road should last between 30 and 40 years with regular maintenance.

Dawe said the projected cost of the project is about $5 million.

Since the busy road will be closed to through traffic, Dawe said there will be about a six-minute detour to get past the construction zone. He said motorists from the south need to take M-72 West to N. Barlow Road, and then F-41 which will lead back to U.S.-23. The detour is reversed if traveling from the north.

Dawe said the detour will no longer be needed on or before July 1, but wrap-up work on the road will continue until about Aug. 1.

There will be a temporary gravel lane that will allow residents who live in the construction area a way to get home, and access businesses such as Alcona Brew Haus and Northeastern Window and Door, which are located in the heart of the construction area.

Alcona Brew Haus owner Sandy Arens said her business has struggled during the pandemic and is bracing for another extended slow period. She said restrictions on restaurants have already caused her to lose employees, and business during her peak times of the year. Arens said she anticipates things will continue to be slow for many more months.

“This has been horrible, absolutely horrible,” she said. “You’re talking about two years in a row that I have lost Mother’s Day and Memorial Day Weekend. We have been sending people home early when we’re slow and some of my staff has quit. I’m not sure those I have left are going to want to go through all of this again.”

Arens, who also owns a grocery store and laundromat in Harrisville, said most businesses in communities along U.S.-23 in Northeast Michigan may experience a financial impact from the road closure.

Arens anticipates people traveling north from downstate will avoid U.S.-23 and use alternative routes to their destination.

“People will just bypass M-72 and take M-65 to avoid the detour,” she said. “That means they aren’t going to go through Tawas, Oscoda, Harrisville, and other small communities. The damage this project will cause will be more widespread than just where the work is being done.”

Arens said she believes the state hasn’t done enough to help small businesses. She has spoken to employees from MDOT to express her concern about the project and the ramifications from it.

When asked if she is pleased with how the state has aided small businesses during the pandemic, or the construction planning, she was pointed in her response.

“Not at all. Not at all,” she said. “I have begged MDOT to delay it, and they said no. This is not going to be good.”

The Alcona Brew Haus has received financial assistance over the last year. It received $106,000 from the federal government’s Paycheck Protection Program, and $9,000 from the State’s Small Business Restart program. It Is not known yet if it has been awarded money during the latest round of state aid.

Despite the relief, many small businesses are struggling to stay in the black.

Arens said she invested in several portable igloos she utilized for outdoor dining. She said they were ordered in late September and didn’t arrive until just before Christmas, which limited how long she could use them.

Now that indoor dining has returned, she said fewer people are using the igloos, or coming to the brewery at all.

“At first people were coming in to use the igloos and to dine out,” Arens said. “Now that people can dine in again, they are going to other places. Plus, there are still a lot of people who aren’t comfortable going out to eat yet.”