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Lately, even the good news out of the local construction industry is bad news.

Consider the results of the ‘s annual business survey, released today: Downtown workers no longer think construction is much of an annoyance. In fact, construction activity downtown has decreased so much that panhandlers and drunks now rank as .

In the last survey, construction activity ranked first in the “factors that need improvement” category. In this survey, it’s fifth, behind panhandlers, transients, and cost and availability of parking.

With big projects such as the Macy’s remodel and the transit mall improvements wrapping up or nearly completed, work hasn’t shifted to other projects. The huge Park Avenue West project in the heart of downtown remains stalled.

Big construction projects bring noise, traffic detours and other delays to downtown. That’s been less of a worry lately, said Megan Doern, spokeswoman for the business alliance.

“Once the construction’s done, those concerns go away,” Doern said.