On Tuesday, a stretch of Grand Avenue in St. Paul, Minnesota, is open again after more than six months of construction.

Owners of businesses along the stretch, like Katie Wann of Italian Pie Shoppe and Winery, say it couldn't come soon enough.

"Everyone on this corridor has lost a tremendous amount of sales," Wann said.

Businesses along the once-vibrant corridor took a hit when construction shut down a four-block stretch.

"Big trucks going down these small streets, it's kind of scary," Wann said. "We were told it was going to last until the end of August, and here we are, almost November."

She says business nearly came to a complete stop when crews began tearing up the street. 

"They took all the cable tracks out, all of the cobblestones out, they updated all of the water, sewer and gas lines, tore all the old sidewalk out and put nice, wider sidewalks," Wann said.

Construction was made possible by St. Paul's Common-Cent Project, a voter-approved 1% increase in sales tax to fund comprehensive improvements to city roads and parks.

Two blocks down from the Italian Pie Shoppe and Winery, Baking Betty's owner Emily Osterberg is counting on increased sales from the re-opening. She said the closure was challenging on many levels.

"It's been hard for people to come in with all the construction. Our traffic probably dropped over 50%. We just opened here in November of last year, and we knew construction was happening, we just thought it would be part of last year and some of this year," Osterberg said. "New business in a new location. You know, we try and bump up our catering and stuff and wholesale, but it's been really tough."

With a fresh new look, all the businesses are looking forward to welcoming back old customers, and meeting new ones.

"More cars, more people," Wann said. "Just a brighter, lighter feel."

The Grand Avenue project was St. Paul's first use of the 1% tax.