Story from Tony Panigua

Merchants in downtown Tucson and north 4th Avenue are very excited and optimistic about the economic benefits from the reopening of the 4th Avenue underpass which is officially scheduled to happen on August 20th.

Construction on the 26-million dollar project began in 2007 and some business owner says they began to feel the impact almost immediately. "We really took a hit, I mean I remember when that was done and myself and most of the merchants around me we had a record bad month," says Margo Susco, the owner of Hydra Leather and More on Congress Street. Now, however, there's a very different tone. I'm very excited that we're going to get the underpass open and then I-10 open and we'll get things flowing as usual, I'm pretty happy about it," she says.

Other merchants that are excited include Bill Nugent, one of the owners of The Shanty on Fourth Avenue as well as Kate Randall, one of the partners of Antigone Books, also in this popular shopping area.

The City of Tucson says the underpass will benefit pedestrians and bicyclists as well as motorists, and it will eventually be used by the modern street car as well. The stretch of I-10 that's been under construction is also scheduled to open this year, ahead of schedule, and that should contribute to even more people visiting 4th Avenue and downtown Tucson.