By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – In the dark of the night and in the wee hours of the morning, crews took to Veterans Parkway late Monday to start a long-awaited resurfacing project.

Rowe Construction, the Illinois Department of Transportation’s contractor, will work weeknights through November 1 to repave the beltway in both directions from Washington Street to Clearwater Avenue.

Bloomington’s economic development director, Austin Grammer, said it will be great for motorists to travel on a smooth road when they’re doing their holiday shopping.

However, he’s been in contact with Eastland Mall managers to prepare them for the road work at a time when the shopping center is struggling to bring in customers and fill vacant retail space.

“I think there may be a minor impact on businesses in the area of the construction project, but Bloomington-Normal is a really easy community to get around,” said Grammer.

“There’s a lot of great secondary routes that the traveling public can take to avoid the construction project,” Grammer also said.

Veterans from Washington to Clearwater will be down to one lane from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. All lanes will be open during peak travel times, but drivers are advised to be on the lookout for uneven pavement during construction.

Alternate routes include Towanda Avenue to the west and Hershey to the east of Veterans Parkway.

The cost of the resurfacing is $3.3 million, which comes from federal and state governments.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at howard.packowitz @cumulus.com