WREX.com – Rockford’s News LeaderRockford's pedestrian mall opens to traffic

Rockford's pedestrian mall opens to traffic

By Marissa Alter

ROCKFORD (WREX) - Rockford's downtown pedestrian mall is officially gone. Main Street from Elm to Mulberry opened to drivers this morning for the first time since 1975. Today marks the end of phase one of the Downtown Streetscape project. Construction began in mid-June and was supposed to wrap up a few months ago, but delays pushed the opening date back.

For the past 12 years Octane head chef Jason Williams saw trees and people when he looked out Octane's windows. Today, a new site.

"It is very surreal to see cars going by. It hasn't quite sunk in yet."

Perhaps it will when new customers start to show up. Octane hopes having a two-way street in place of a pedestrian mall will bring higher visibility

"We have a core crowd of people. They know we're here, they've been coming here for years and years and years. And now it opens the door more for people who didn't know businesses were down here to drive by and see us," Williams explains.

"I think we've actually had some new customers in today because people had driven by and they see there's something going on. It's pretty exciting," adds Doc Slafkosky, co-owner of J.R. Kortman Center for Design.

Slafkosky has been part of the push to open up the mall for years. That's why he was in the first convoy to drive down the two-block section of main this morning. He says the project will also help connect Rockford's attractions in the heart of the city and breath new life into the downtown.

"We're kind of looking at this like a little Christmas gift or, I should say, a big Christmas gift from the City of Rockford," Slafkosky says.

"The mall was a beautiful place, but it wasn't utilized. A street is going to be utilized," Williams states.

Phase two of the project includes streetscape elements like lighting and signage. That's set to be done in the spring.