TOPEKA (KSNT) — As the bridge which connects downtown Topeka to north Topeka, partially reopened Thursday on May 7, it may give residents and business owners a little hope for an easier commute and increased traffic to local shops.
Drivers in Topeka are once again able to cross the Kansas River using the Topeka Boulevard bridge after a closure that lasted more than a year as part of the $239 million Polk-Quincy Viaduct project.
Stumpy’s Cheese & More opened its north Topeka location a little more than a year and a half ago. The shop’s owner, Stacy Kiss, said the closure created challenges for some of its customers trying to visit north Topeka businesses.
“All the way around Kansas Avenue, which took another 10 minutes, or if they were coming from the south side of town, they would have to take Highway 24, and it would just take a really long time,” Kiss said. “So people just weren’t putting in the effort to actually make it over here.”
Kiss believes reopening the bridge can help connect a potentially growing downtown district with north Topeka businesses.
“I think it’s going to be awesome because I think downtown is doing so well, and I think it’s just going to draw the downtown crowd farther this way, just a little bit further north,” Kiss said. “We’re so close, we just needed that little connection.”
Back in December, Stumpy’s held a pop-up shop at West Ridge Mall and saw a large turnout. Kiss said nearly 89% of the customers they served during the event were new customers from south Topeka.
As Stumpy’s searches for a permanent south Topeka location, Kiss said she hopes the bridge reopening will make it easier for those customers to visit the north Topeka store.
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