A rocky road for southern Indiana ice cream shop stuck in middle of major construction project

CLARKSVILLE, Ind. (WDRB) -- Street closures and construction make for a rocky road to get to a popular ice cream shop in southern Indiana.

The Widow's Walk Ice Creamery is the only business on Riverside Drive in Clarksville impacted by the town's construction.

Two staggered road barriers, detours, and several yards of gravel road leading up to the ice cream shop have caused a rocky start to peak season, according to owner Jill Dodson.

"It's literally kind of a ghost town down here through the week," Dodson said. "I could be open right now and I still wouldn't have, I'd make $12 bucks today, it's just really different."

Widow's Walk construction — Detour sign directs customers to Widow's Walk Ice Creamery.

Because of the construction, Dodson scaled back the number of days the shop is open. For April, she extended weekend hours and is closed Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

"Kind of in between a rock and a hard place, but this is definitely the worst thing I've experienced since I've been here," she said.

The revitalization project started in February to add new lighting, on-street parking, sidewalks and bike lanes. The construction zone stretches from the entrance of Ashland Park to the Clarksville/Jeffersonville border. Construction is expected to wrap in November.

While she expected the project to happen when she took over the business seven years ago, she did not know it would clash with one of the busiest weekends for the business: Thunder Over Louisville.

"I'm not sure what it's going to look like," Dodson said.

Town officials had originally planned to make accommodations to allow pedestrian access by opening an 8-foot-wide path through the construction zone during Thunder Over Louisville.

After further planning and investigation, however, "Clarksville’s emergency responders decided the risk to public safety would be too great to allow for this temporary pathway," according to a news release.

Dodson said she plans to be open for Thunder, but expects the crowd to be small compared to previous years.

As for the rest of the season, her team plans to get creative and host events worth coming out for, like the eclipse.

She also plans to host a "Swiftie Party" ahead of Taylor Swift's newest album release, and incorporate themed ice cream names.

"Swifties, they'll come out, this is nothing for them," she said.

The Town of Clarksville said it has been working with Dodson throughout the project. In a statement, its spokesperson said:

"Since well before the Riverside Drive project began, the Town of Clarksville has been working diligently to make sure the project would have as minimal of an impact as possible on Ms. Dodson’s business. This includes purchasing additional street signage, using the town’s social media channels, and working with local news outlets. The town also worked with Ms. Dodson and One Southern Indiana to arrange a 0% interest loan for the Widows Walk during the construction period.

In addition, our Economic Development Director meets bi-weekly with the construction team to make sure Ms. Dodson’s needs are being met. Fortunately, the road closure is having minimal impact on the number of visitors to Ashland Park and the Ohio River Greenway."

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