"Customers are building new habits, and we've just got to get them to come back to the old habits of driving those roads again," Sam Osborne told WTXL in early August, a few weeks before Maclay Boulevard reopened. Osborne owns Island Wing Company, Rock N' Roll Sushi and Tropical Smoothie Café in the Market District, and he expects the recovery to take a while.
That's the real story behind the ribbon cutting. Getting the road open was something the district's businesses fought for and won. Getting regulars back on their old route is a separate job, and it's happening now, while park construction continues on both sides of the new road and one more closure sits on the city's calendar for 2027.
How a Full-Year Closure Got Cut Short
Maclay Boulevard closed in September 2025 so crews could build three things at once: Blueprint's Market District Park, a city stormwater project and a new roundabout.
The original plan was to keep it closed much longer. In February, the Tallahassee Democrat reported that the road closure was planned to last through all of 2026. That stretch of road links the district to Premier Fitness and Village Commons, home to Fresh Market, HomeGoods and Total Wine, along with nearby homes and offices.
On Jan. 28, a group of business owners met with city staff to ask for a shorter timeline. By the Feb. 18 City Commission agenda, staff were projecting that Maclay would open at the end of summer. They wrote that feedback from business owners "indicated construction-related traffic patterns have impacted businesses around the project area beyond what was expected," so "a revised strategy was developed."
The city put the boulevard first at the Market District Association's request, and it opened on Aug. 31, ahead of the busier shopping and dining season. Hearth and Soul founder Susie Busch-Transou thanked "the city and the contractor for pushing the timeline up" at the ribbon cutting. On Sept. 3, a block party brought live music to Sage, the Hearth & Soul Courtyard and Island Wing Grill.
What the Closure Cost, by the Owners' Own Numbers
The owners' figures explain why they pushed so hard for an earlier date.
| Business | What the owner reported | Source and date |
|---|---|---|
| Island Wing Company | Weekly labor fell from 1,200 to 1,300 hours to 950 | Tallahassee Democrat, Feb. 2026 |
| Osborne's three restaurants | Staff of more than 100, down 20%; losses "in the seven figures" across all three | Democrat, Feb. 2026; WTXL, Aug. 2026 |
| Gordo's | "We lost 35%, and we may have gained 20% back on that" | WCTV, Sept. 1, 2026 |
| Sage | Hit "pretty badly" when the road first shut down | WCTV, Sept. 1, 2026 |
Gordo's owner Eddie Agramonte said on reopening day that the restaurant was still behind its pre-construction numbers. Tony Trusty of Shamrock Cleaners described losing the busy stretches one after another: the third and fourth quarters, Christmas, then graduation.
Even with those losses, the businesses quoted in all this coverage were still open when the road reopened. Serena Moyle, the Market District Association's volunteer president, said in August that the roundabout alone was already bringing in traffic. "We need this main artery open to bring back the full impact because we won't see a change in our numbers until that happens," she said. The main road has been open for a month now. So far, no one has published figures showing how much traffic or how many sales have come back since then.
Where You Can Drive Right Now, and Where You Can't
Maclay Boulevard and the roundabout at Maclay Boulevard and Maclay Commerce Drive are open. Since mid-January you've also been able to drive Maclay Commerce Drive in both directions between Market Street and Village Square, with no detour onto Thomasville Road.
A few spots are still closed:
- Maclay Commerce Drive west of the roundabout. This section is still closed while road and utility work continues. To reach Window World and the Tallahassee Dance Academy, use Martin Hurst Drive.
- Both sides of Maclay Boulevard. Park construction continues here, and the city says it will need short, temporary closures from time to time. The city has asked drivers to slow down and use caution while crews work along the new road.
Why the Construction Is Still Going
The construction zone you're driving past is mostly stormwater work. According to the City of Tallahassee, parts of the Market District were built before many of today's environmental rules, so runoff from some areas has never been treated. The upgrades are meant to improve the quality of water flowing toward Lake Jackson.
One piece is already done. The city finished the West Stormwater Facility in August 2023. It's an 8-acre wet detention pond that treats water and helps prevent flooding for the roughly 300-acre watershed draining into it, including the new stretches of Maclay Boulevard and Maclay Commerce Drive. It also has a 0.5-mile walking path around the pond and an observation platform for watching wildlife, with stormwater education kiosks.
The East Stormwater Facility is built more like a park, with walking or fitness paths and a constructed wetland that catches runoff from Maclay Commerce Drive and the businesses next to it. When the roads are finished, they'll have a landscaped median, sidewalks and on-street parking. The whole project covers about 30 acres, and the park itself sits on a 9.8-acre parcel. Blueprint says the park will include walking and biking paths, a children's play area, pickleball courts and a shaded gathering space.
One More Closure Is Coming
In June, the Market District said the park should be finished next summer, meaning summer 2027. Once it's done, Maclay Boulevard will close for "a couple of weeks" for final paving and striping. The city says it will set that date well ahead of time to keep the disruption down. WTXL reports that the closure falls within Phase II of the project, the phase focused on pedestrian and streetscape improvements.
So the district has a window of several months, starting now and running until that 2027 paving closure, to rebuild the regular traffic it lost. A two-week closure is much shorter than eleven months. Still, it will come right after a year when owners say customers got used to going elsewhere.
What's on the Market District Calendar This Month
Moyle said the association would focus on new signs, website updates and social media to let people know every business is open. Here's what the district's online calendar lists for October:
- Oct. 8, 7:30 to 9 a.m. Coffee Club with TWM and Image by Lisa, at Image by Lisa, 1419 Market Street.
- Oct. 15, noon to 9 p.m. Pedal for Pink at Premier.
- Oct. 22, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Lash Class at Image by Lisa, 1419 Market Street.
- Oct. 30, noon to 1:30 p.m. Free Halloween Zumba.
The association is also planning a Friendsgiving later this fall, and WTXL's September report gave no date for it. The online calendar can change, so check the Market District events page before you go. If you're planning a Saturday market run, the Tallahassee Farmers Market isn't in the district anymore. It moved from Market Square in 2019 and now sets up near Cornerstone Presbyterian Church at Kerry Forest Parkway and Thomasville Road.
If you own a home near the Market District, a reopened road and a new 9.8-acre park are worth factoring into what your home is worth. I follow these project timelines in my neighborhood work at Trey Cooper III. Get your free home valuation, and I'll walk you through what the Maclay corridor changes mean for your street.
