As extreme heat settles over mid-Michigan this July, many residents are looking for ways to cool off.
But in East Lansing, getting to a favorite ice cream shop can require navigating road closures, detours and blocked sidewalks.
Construction projects across the city have disrupted travel routes for drivers and pedestrians alike, creating challenges for local businesses during one of the busiest seasons of the year.
Along Grand River Avenue near Hagadorn Road, road and sewer improvement work has closed portions of the roadway and altered pedestrian access.
Sidewalk closures and construction barriers have forced some visitors to take longer routes to nearby destinations, including popular East Lansing ice cream shop Tasty Twist.
At Tasty Twist, the store manager said customers have adapted by using neighborhood streets to reach the business despite the closures.
“Grand River’s open till our spot,” he said. “Locals know Milford and Stoddard.”
For ice cream shops, summer is a critical time for business.
According to the International Dairy Foods Association, the U.S. ice cream industry supports nearly 27,000 direct jobs and generates approximately $11.6 billion in annual economic activity. The organization says those jobs account for roughly $1.9 billion in wages.
In East Lansing, however, reaching local ice cream shops can mean navigating detours, sidewalk closures and long stretches with little shade during periods of extreme heat.
Downtown businesses are facing similar challenges.
At Eiffel Waffle, employee Ketia Sherman said road work has complicated travel for both workers and customers.
“It's hard for us to get to work because of the road closures, and we have to do the detours and everything,” Sherman said.
The impact has also been felt by Michigan State University's Dairy Store on Shaw Lane, where visitors have encountered multiple construction projects and traffic changes tied to campus and city infrastructure work.
Longtime customer Larry Frederiksen said he plans to continue visiting despite the inconvenience but would like to see more amenities for people spending time outdoors near the store.
“While they're doing all the work out front on the road, I would like to see more picnic tables, more ways to eat the ice cream outside,” Frederiksen said. “I think that's a shortcoming compared to Penn State's dairy. It's got like 20 picnic tables up front.”
Frederiksen enjoyed his ice cream alongside Myra and Anne-Marie DeZeeuw, who’ve been visiting the Dairy Store since they were children.
“I doubt if I've ever gotten ice cream anyplace else in this area,” Myra DeZeeuw said. “We're not sure we're parked in a legal spot, but we're there.”
DeZeeuw said that neither weather nor construction could stop her and her family from getting a cone at the Dairy Store.
“Well, we didn't drive in our day. Students weren't allowed to drive on campus,” DeZeeuw said. “It always was the tundra out to the next building. When I went to school here, I was in Mary Mayo, and we couldn't get lunch if we didn't have a dress on, or a skirt. Things have changed since 1965.”
The Dairy Store recently launched an ice cream truck outside the MSU Union to improve their reach in spite of construction delays.
But Connor Fochtman, who works in the truck, said customer traffic has been somewhat slower than normal.
“[It’s] a little slower than usual because of all the construction,” Fochtman said. “But we still get pretty busy in the main store in Anthony [Hall].”
His brother, Luke Fochtman, said ongoing construction has made the business harder to reach during one of the most important times of year for ice cream sales.
“We're trying to pick up on all the foot traffic that's coming out of the buildings and people just walking by for events on Grand River,” he said.
The brothers say they’ll be helping operate the truck until the end of the summer, open from 2-8 p.m. on weekdays.
The city expects the current phase of Grand River Avenue construction to conclude by the end of July.
Until then, residents looking for a frozen treat may need to budget extra time for navigating detours and closures on their way to some of East Lansing's most popular ice cream destinations.