After three weeks of backhoes and dump trucks, most downtown merchants say the impact of the Main Street reconstruction project has been minimal, and they hope customers will continue to come through the doors.

But this optimism is tempered by the knowledge that the intersection of Main Street and Kellogg Avenue will be torn up for at least three more weeks, said Kirk Haugland, manager of the Coin Castle, 236 Main St.

“I guess it’s still enough of a novelty that people are out there checking around,” Haugland said, noting that activity at his shop had not slowed noticeably. “But once the novelty wears off, who knows?”

Haugland said he had expected a “ghost town” and was surprised to see that business had not dropped off. People are usually less willing to shop “when you close down the traffic like that,” he said.

Darlene Wass, manager of Alphabet Soup, 233 Main St., said most people who want to visit her business will come despite the inconvenience.

“[Business] hasn’t increased, but it certainly hasn’t decreased,” she said. “I think what we lose, we’ll make up for when it’s all finished.”

Almost everyone agreed that the $3.37 million project will improve Ames’ downtown, but right now, it’s mostly a hassle. Parking spaces in the construction zone — half a block in all four directions from the intersection — are unusable, and sidewalks are lined with fences, making detours necessary to get around the Main Street area.

Still, shoppers haven’t been too upset, said many business owners near the Main Street and Kellogg Avenue intersection.

“So far, I’ve had no complaints. Customer response has been very favorable,” said Dick Walden, manager and owner of Walden’s Foto Shop, 317 Main St. He said it may be late summer before the impact of the project is known completely.

To make shopping more convenient, Walden said he has opened more parking behind the store by allowing the public to use spaces that previously were designated employee-only.

Carr Hardware, 306 Main St., is trying several strategies to battle a lack of business, including a 20-percent sale called “Shower of Savings,” which will feature punch, cookies and a prize drawing.

“It’s definitely slower, but the work has to be done,” said co-owner Mary Ketelsen. “Our biggest concern is that customers’ habits will change. When you’re used to shopping a certain way and you change that way, you may not return to the old way.”

Steve Sutton, co-owner of the Lazy M Shoe Store, 232 Main St., said he hasn’t seen fewer shoe shoppers yet.

“The longer [the construction] stretches out, the harder the impact will be,” Sutton said. “We really don’t know at this point.”

The piles of gravel and dirt and the looming backhoes are more a conversation piece than a disturbance, said Ann Rehbein, manager of Temptations, 309 Main St.

“Customers seem kind of intrigued by all the really deep holes and construction,” she said, adding that most people wonder how long the work will last instead of complaining about the inconvenience.

The project comes just as two Main Street businesses are moving, but the construction apparently was not a factor in either decision.

“It affected the timing of our move but not our intent to move,” said Steve Lauber, manager of Bike World, which relocated this month from 300 Main St. to 126 S. Third St.

Lauber said Bike World isn’t fleeing the construction zone; the store just needed more room and was facing the end of its lease.

“We’ve been thinking about it for a while,” he said. “If we’d have been able to find the right space on Main Street, we’d have stuck it out.”

Wildwood Design is in the process of moving from 230 Main St. to 408 Duff Ave., formerly Munn Lumber.

Mary Sherwood, owner of Wildwood Design, said the new location provides more space, and the construction did not prompt her move.

“It just fell this way,” she said.

The Coin Castle’s building also is for sale, but Haugland said owner Darwin Sprong’s decision to sell “has nothing to do with Main Street at this point.”

Haugland said he hopes to remain at 236 Main St., and he plans to ask for a new lease from the buyer of the building.