Wyoma Square shops take planned 18-months of roadwork in stride

LYNN – Just as business was picking up from the economic downturn, merchant owners in Wyoma Square will have to deal with 18 months of construction – but it’s all worth it, some say, if plans to improve traffic flow in the busy area come to fruition.”I think it’s great, it’s just going to stink while they’re doing it,” said Laura Ippoliti, proprietor of Ippi’s Bait & Tackle on Parkland Avenue, in the heart of Wyoma Square.Ippoliti said this past year was her tackle shop’s best in six years, and she’s worried about how construction in one of Lynn’s busiest areas will affect customers coming to her shop.”We’ll just have to deal with it,” she said.Construction is slated to begin this summer on a $5.5 million project paid for with federal tax dollars to widen lanes, repave roads, iron out cramped turns, and update stop lights on Broadway and Lynnfield Street. In addition, the city announced in February it is taking over the Wyoma Square parking lot behind Broadway to eventually add more spots.The lack of parking pre-construction and during improvements worries Newhalls Liquor employee John Tracy, who said he thinks customers will avoid Wyoma Square all together over the next year and a half.”They’re going to find a new store, get stuck in their ways, and not come back,” he said.But nobody likes driving in Wyoma Square now, yet people still find a way to patronize businesses, said Broadway Barber Shop owner Jane Ardarella.”I have customers complaining, ?Oh, gosh, traffic was crazy,'” she said. “But they figure it out. If you do business in Wyoma Square, you’ll find a way to get here.”And she said she figures that will hold true during construction.”I can’t complain about them doing something good,” she said.Wyoma Square improvements are decades overdue, and the temporary pain for businesses, residents and drivers will be worth it, said David Solimine, funeral director of Solimine, Landergan & Richardson Funeral Homes, on Broadway.”Even though it will be difficult to go through,” he said, “human nature is such that we’ll survive it.”Amber Phillips can be reached at [email protected].