DES MOINES, Iowa — Feast your eyes, folks! Lanes are clear, the machinery is gone. Businesses are cheering.

Phase 4 of the revitalization plan finished six weeks early.

“The crews had a lot of good working days,” says Lauren Kollauf, of The Avenues of Ingersoll and Grand, “and they didn’t find any trolley tracks!”

Kollauf has had the tough job of asking businesses to be patient. But she now gets to remind them that Phase 5 won’t begin until spring of 2026.

“The business owners have been real troopers,” she says “but we’re giving everyone a year off.”

It’s music to their ears. This has been one tough slog.

“People just kind of avoided the area,” says Eric Marshall of Wellman’s Pub.

“Getting across the street was certainly hard sometimes,” says Josh Luksetich of Town Financial.

“We have a lot of clients who are elderly and had a hard time getting here,” says Terri Cooper at Chocolaterie Stam.

“They just didn’t want to deal with it and so they would just avoid Ingersoll,” says Carrey Hansen of Manhattan Deli.

Hansen and her husband bought the Deli around the same time construction started and has seen an uninterrupted stream of sewer, road, curb, electrical, and plumbing work.

She says the break is welcome even if it means extending the time it takes to complete the project.

“The timing couldn’t be better,” she says, “right before our busy season — the holiday season on the corridor — and we are just looking forward to getting all of our customers back down here on Ingersoll.”

East on Ingersoll, Cooper isn’t so sure.

“I think they should push on through and get it finished,” she says.

She and her neighbors can say that, because their section is complete.

But to those located west of 31st street (with work still to come), they say the finished product is worth the hassle.

“It’s definitely an improvement,” says Luksetich.

He likes the planters — and they’ll get flowers this week.

A few doors east, Marshall says his Wellman’s Pub has never looked so well … man.

“I think it looks fantastic,” he smiles. “It’s beautiful, I think it’s looks like a destination where you’d want to park and walk around.”