Apex cancels downtown Fourth of July block party amid construction delays

Downtown Apex will not host its usual Olde Fashioned Fourth of July block party this year, as the Salem Streetscape project continues to cut through the center of town. The town is moving the Parade of Wheels and the Apex Fire Department Splash Down to Fireworks Frenzy at Hunter Street Park, but the cancellation of the downtown celebration leaves merchants and residents dealing with a downtown that is still under construction and harder to reach.

Fireworks Frenzy is set for July 3 at Hunter Street Park, 1250 Ambergate Station, from 4:30 to 10 p.m. The event will include food trucks, a kids zone, an expanded drone show, fireworks and a sensory-friendly space at the Apex Senior Center. The switch preserves some holiday traditions, but it also underscores how far the streetscape work has altered downtown life.

The immediate pressure is showing up on South Salem Street, where only one lane of traffic is open in places and street parking in the construction zone is closed. Business owners have said foot traffic has become unpredictable and day-to-day sales are suffering. Apex Gallery and Framing and Alleyway Bookstore have both been cited as examples of merchants feeling the strain. Alleyway Bookstore said it was closing partly because of a 64% rent increase, while also pointing to the construction outside its door as another reason customer traffic has fallen.

The Salem Streetscape project runs along South Salem Street from Saunders Street to Chatham Street and is meant to turn the corridor into a more walkable, multi-modal downtown destination. The plan includes staggered parallel parking, widened paver sidewalks, urban street trees, decorative light poles, string lighting, planter boxes, wayfinding signs and street furniture. Town officials say the work slowed in March and April because revised electrical plans were needed, creating an approximate 60-day delay. The construction contract timeline is now listed as January through December 2026.

The disruption has also reached transit. GoApex Route 1 began detouring on January 27 because of the project, and the town says that detour is expected to last into late 2026. Northbound traffic on part of Salem Street is also closed while work continues.

The broader downtown vision is not new. Apex’s Downtown Master Plan and Parking Study was unanimously adopted by Town Council on December 17, 2019 after public input, a steering committee, public workshops, a survey and meetings with downtown tenants and property owners. Town documents say the current downtown design effort also includes the Saunders Parking Lot and Alleys & Peak Gathering Space.

For Apex, the holiday cancellation is now part of a larger question: how long downtown merchants and residents will bear the cost of a project meant to make the historic core more attractive in the long run.