The 1200 block of Washington Street, between China and Clay streets, reopened at the end of last week to through traffic after it was closed for repairs.

The street had closed a week and a half earlier because of a water leak. Besides fixing the leaking water line, city workers also repaired a cracked sewer line while the road was closed.

“I heard it was not as bad as they first thought,” Fredrick’s Shoe Store owner Norma Massey said.

Estimates of two to three weeks were given for the repairs to be completed, but crews were able to get the work done in just under two weeks.

Stores in the area were initially concerned their business would be effected by the closure, but they understood it was a necessary repair.

Sam Thomas, the gallery director at the H.C. Porter Gallery, was not at the gallery for most of the time the road was closed, but said she didn’t hear any complaints from guests staying in the loft above the gallery or from other employees.

“I think it [business] was pretty sporadic throughout the week,” Thomas said.

Some storeowners saw a difference in the amount of customers who patronized their business during the repairs.

“Customer base dropped, while it was closed, probably 65 to 75 percent,” Thomas Jolly of Jolly’s Anytime Store said. “We noticed it picked right back up as soon as the traffic started back through.”

Since this same problem has occurred before in the same location, Jolly thinks the repairs must not have been done correctly the first time. He is pleased to have the road open again.

Massey said the repairs were done in just the nick of time. With back-to-school shopping ramping up and tax-free weekend this Friday and Saturday, she is glad to have a repaired road in front of her store.

“I was very thankful that it didn’t take any longer than it did, it is one of our slower months,” Massey said. “Had it been any longer it probably really would have affected me.”

For her, it was a blessing they got it done so quickly, and she is thankful.

“The workers seemed like they were really making an effort to get it done,” Massey said.

She made sure to announce the closure on her Facebook page and pass the word along through customers so people would be aware of the closure before they came to her store. Customers who visited the store during and after the repairs are even commenting about the street.

“Everybody that’s been coming in said ‘I know you’re glad the roads are open,’” Massey said.

In conjunction with tax-free weekend, customers who spend $25 or more at downtown shops on Friday and Saturday get a voucher for a free scoop of ice cream at the Biedenharn Coca-Cola Museum.