For Uptown Businesses, Hennepin's Reopening Brings Relief After Two Hard Years

After about 18 months of detours, trenches and fenced sidewalks, Hennepin Avenue through Uptown reopened to cars, buses, bikes and pedestrians on Oct. 31. The reconstruction from Lake Street to Douglas Avenue, which cost roughly $36 million, replaced a worn-out street with protected bike lanes, wider sidewalks and part-time bus lanes.

Mayor Jacob Frey marked the reopening by telling business owners the corridor was on the rebound. "Uptown is coming back and you all are going to be a part of it," he said, calling it "a renaissance" for the district.

For the operators who survived, the finished street is a genuine relief, but the relief is uneven. The construction battered Uptown businesses, with the owner of Autopia auto repair, Stan Pryor, reporting a 60% drop and saying most of the damage was already done. Mumtaz Osman, 35 years at Osman Cleaners, said lost parking left her fearing more congestion, while Judy Longbottom of the UPS store at 28th and Hennepin expected two-way traffic to help.

A reopened street is a necessary condition for recovery, not a sufficient one. Habits formed during the construction years, shopping elsewhere, avoiding the corridor, do not reverse the moment the cones come down. The city has paired the reopening with support, including the Business Technical Assistance Program, which served 36 corridor businesses from 2023 to 2025.

The rebuilt Hennepin reflects a deliberate philosophy that a city street should serve everyone who uses it, not just drivers passing through, and for a commercial corridor that doubles as a business strategy, since people on foot, on bikes and on transit are the ones who stop and spend. The design connects to the METRO E Line bus rapid transit route, which opened Dec. 6 and largely replaced Route 6. Whether the redesign pays off depends on use: a bus lane full of riders and a bike lane full of cyclists deliver customers, while empty ones simply narrow the street. With the avenue open, attention turns to whether shoppers return in the numbers businesses need.