ANALYZING EFFECTS OF HIGHWAY REHABILITATION ON BUSINESSES

Urban highway rehabilitation projects create problems not only for state highway agencies and motorists but also for commercial premises. For businesses dependent on highway traffic, these projects can potentially disrupt the flow of customers that provide essential business revenue. Notwithstanding the fact that, following the construction, businesses invariably report improved sales from the increased highway traffic, construction projects can be so disruptive as to cause some companies to fail. To reduce these negative effects, highway planners are increasingly expediting construction projects in a variety of ways. An attempt was made to determine whether expediting--an approach that makes use of a systems analysis--in fact provides benefits to adjoining businesses.