The reopening of Courtoreille Street was given the full treatment on Oct. 2.
There was a ribbon-cutting by Ron Courtoreille, a well-known member of the family after which the street is named.
A first car drove down the reopened street.
And people walked down the short thoroughfare, which connects Woodland Drive and Capital Drive.
The Town of Hay River is looking at the changes to Courtoreille Street as a way to improve the look of the downtown.
"I'm pretty pleased," said Mayor Brad Mapes. "I think that it's going to be a great feature for our community ... It's truly going to be something that's appreciated."
And Mapes thinks people like the changes, which were started in July.
"I haven't had any really fits-of-rage emails complaining about it," he said. "So I think overall it's pretty well received in the town."
Aside from changing into a one-way, Courtoreille Street now features much wider sidewalks with improved wheelchair accessibility, new paving and a new water main.
Mapes is optimistic about the wider sidewalk in front of the businesses lining the south side of Courtoreille Street.
"It is going to be a great way to showcase our community," he said. "I see schools being able to use it for a place where the kids can sing Christmas carols or have a view of our musical acts."
Larry Ring and his mother, Marlene Ring, were the first to drive along the reopened Courtoreille Street because their family business – Ring's Pharmacy – was the first on the street decades ago.
Larry Ring noted his mother and his late father built what is believed to be the first building on the street.
Ring is pleased with the latest changes.
"I think it's going to be amazing," he said. "It'll take shape in the summer versus the winter, obviously, but it's got a real nice feel to it, for sure."
Mapes believes the wide sidewalk can be used in the winter for things like snow carving.
"I see a lot of opportunity in the wintertime," he said.
There are a few more things to do to complete the work on Courtoreille Street, such as painting lines on the new paved surface. That is unlikely to happen until next spring because it is now too cold to do the painting.
Mapes said lampposts for the wide sidewalk are expected to arrive in several weeks.
There is also the issue of motorists driving the wrong way on the now one-way street.
"I've seen three or four people myself," said Mapes. "In fact, I've seen one person parked going the wrong way."
The mayor said it's a matter of educating the driving public that the street is now one-way. There are already signs advising people of that fact.
Changes to other existing signage may also be required. At least one street sign misspells the name as 'Coutoreille Street' and proclaims Capital Drive to be 'Capital Cres.'