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HOUGHTON - Traffic is back on Shelden Avenue in downtown Houghton.

Since the road opened at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, the traffic has been consistent down Houghton's main drag for the first time since the road project began in early May. So far, reactions have been positive.

"We really like the way the project turned out and changed the image of the downtown area," said Ken Dillinger, president of U.P. Engineers and Architects. "We appreciate all the hard work that was done by the contractors."

Save a few small projects, such as a couple portions of missing sidewalk near the statue of the miner on the east end of Shelden, and near the Best Western, the work by Bacco Construction of Iron Mountain on Shelden Avenue is complete.

Throughout the day Thursday, crews worked with local officials to return the Yooper Loop on the west end of Shelden at the Portage Lake Lift Bridge back to normal conditions and returning Montezuma Avenue back to one-way eastbound.

"The switch over went really smooth. The only issue has been some of the line painting," Bacco Project Superintendent Mike Momont said.

For most of Thursday, those traveling on Shelden were still forced to go around to Hancock to go west on M-26, and those traveling towards Michigan Tech from Hancock were still forced to go up or down instead of around the Yooper Loop. By the end of the day, things were close to back to normal.

Besides the finishing touches on Shelden, Bacco crews continue work on Lakeshore Drive, with paving hopefully to come Wednesday or Thursday, depending on the weather. They've already begun bringing equipment back to their office in Iron Mountain.

"We're really pleased with how the project went," Momont said. "It went pretty smoothly, we avoided most of the weather issues and we were able to combat those at the end of the project because we were so far ahead of schedule.

"We thank the public for being patient with us over the summer."

While some businesses struggled with the construction blues, Dillinger said UPEA wasn't affected, and much of that was because of the work by Bacco.

"We didn't have any major problems with the parking because the contractors were able to make it a very limited amount of time," Dillinger said.

At least one business has already noticed an increase since the Shelden opened.

"There has been a lot more foot traffic today," said Ryan Kuntze, owner of Quik Cash and Pawn. "I don't know if you can attribute it to the traffic being back up, but there has definitely been a difference."

While the added traffic is nice, the thought of being able to drive around at a normal pace is even better.

"I'm very happy with it being back to normal," Kuntze said. "It's been such a disaster the last few weeks."

Michael H. Babcock can be reached at mbabcock@mininggazette.com.