Business owners don't expect change with US-33 construction

 Big changes are coming to one of Michiana's most popular roads.  In the future, US-33 in downtown Goshen would shift out of downtown, affecting neighborhoods and businesses. 

Construction is expected to start in early 2016, because there is still a lot of work that needs to be done until then. 

Keith Graber-Miller is a small business owner in Goshen, and what he sells can't be found anywhere else in the country. 

"My wife and I, and our family, travel to Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia, and buy things directly from artists and artisan cooperatives and antique stores," says Graber-Miller, the owner of Found in Goshen. 

Then he brings them to his shop located in downtown Goshen, along what is now US-33. 

But that will soon change.  The US-33 Northern Connector Project will remove the main roadway from Madison and Main Streets in downtown. 

"It will have that traffic continue parallel to the railroad tracks and bypass the downtown area of Goshen," says Ricky Clark with INDOT's division of communications. 

That means less traffic passing right by Graber-Miller's shop.  But he's not worried, because he says, with the exception of a few commuters, most people shopping in downtown Goshen have made the trip anyway. 

"We're still going to be a destination place, and people will still keep coming downtown, and so for me it doesn't feel like a substantial change for us," says Graber-Miller. 

Officials with INDOT say the goal with this project is to get rid of some congestion, but it's also for safety reason, especially right around Goshen High School where there are a lot of pedestrians.