Ever since construction crews started tearing up the streets around 200 South and 400 West in mid-January, Clough has noticed a decline in his business. New customers don't seem to be wandering in as much, and his regular clients don't seem to be visiting as frequently.

"Right now, business is only so-so," Clough said. "But every day I'm praying that things won't get any worse."

Clough's business is across the street from the southeast corner of The Gateway shopping center. Road construction is expected to continue through March 2008 as the Utah Transit Authority extends its light rail line from the north side of the Jazz arena to the city's new intermodal transit hub on 600 West, between 200 South and 300 South.

Although the primary objective of the construction is to link the light rail with the planned arrival of a commuter rail line coming from the north, Salt Lake City officials are taking advantage of the situation to upgrade the streets and municipal utility lines, some of which are more than 100 years old.

UTA spokesman Justin Jones said the best way for visitors to avoid any inconvenience caused by construction crews and their equipment is to use light rail. "It provides easy access in and out of the area."

And so far, many of the business operators in The Gateway maintain they have seen at most only a slight impact.

"We've seen a bit of a fall off in our business, but it hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought it would be," said Valerie Johnston, manager of the GNC Live Well store in The Gateway." And it seems that the warmer it gets, the more customers we're getting - so the nice weather definitely has helped."

Cameron Christensen and Amanda Howell drove up from Orem earlier this week to visit the shops at The Gateway. Although they said it was a pain to deal with the road construction, it wasn't bad enough to dissuade them from making the trip.

"I was down here last week, so I knew what to expect," Christensen said.

The Gateway General Manager Tracy James said construction company crews handling the work have done all they can to maintain street access for area businesses, including adding a parking lot at 600 West and 200 South, within walking distance of nearby shops and restaurants.

James also noted The Gateway three weeks ago opened a parking garage on the north end of the shopping center.

"At most, a driver will only have to go through construction for a half block before they get to one of the entrances to our garages," James said.

He reported same-store sales at The Gateway's shops were up 11 percent in January, compared with a year ago.

At the Estilo Salon, across the street and to the east of The Gateway on 400 West, Rina Gutierrez said the construction so far has been a nuisance, but it hasn't hurt business.

"We're still doing well - knock on wood. For a while, we had some parking across the street, but when that disappeared The Gateway allowed our customers to use their parking lots, so we can now validate their parking," Gutierrez said.

UTA's Chad Saley said that with construction, there obviously will be problems for some businesses. "It is something that can't be avoided, but everyone is doing what they can to keep any impact to a minimum."

He said the bulk of the excavation work along 400 West should be completed within the next several weeks. Once that is done, crews can begin restoring the road in preparation for the laying of the light rail tracks.