Downtown Marysville businesses start seeing return to normalcy with Highway 70 back open
MARYSVILLE — What's left of the historic Hotel Marysville sits under a concrete pile.
Now that it's on the ground and the risk of collapse has been eliminated, Highway 70, which runs through the area, is back open in both directions and road detours have been lifted.
Iqbal Gill, the owner of a nearby 7-Eleven, said he's seen a "big improvement" in foot traffic since the highway reopened, but it's not quite back to normal.
Gill blames it on drivers becoming too used to detours and avoiding the area altogether.
"It's going to take a little while because people have adopted different roads to reach their goals to where they're going. It's going to take a while for the daily routine to get back," he said.
For others, the road reopening has made a huge difference.
"We had very slow days and then it picked up. I mean, the first Saturday that the road opened, it was crazy. So, it definitely showed," said Zach Zapata, the owner of Double Z's Custom Butcher Shop.
Zapata took over the butcher shop in August.
"The whole time I've been here, we've never had a normal road," he said. "It was like a highway. Everybody was speeding and honking, car accidents in front of the shop. I've had a few customers call and let me know, 'Hey, I can't get across the street.' "
Now that his customers have a place to park, Zapata said business has been booming.
"It's been great since it opened. We've had our best retail days, which is awesome for us," he said.
"it looks so much cleaner. I'll miss the old hotel because it was part of my growing up, but nobody was doing anything with it. Now i see it's that big blank spot. I'm just excited to see what they may or may not do with it," said\\\\ Rossi said.
A farewell celebration for the Hotel Marysville is taking place Monday.