2nd Street SW Is Still Open for Lunch: How to Reach the Corridor's Holdouts This Winter

On Monday, October 12, 2026, Tyrol Ski & Sport posted a short notice on its homepage. The canoes, kayaks, tents and patio furniture are gone. Skis, snowboards and winter jackets are in. Below that came a practical note for anyone who had been put off by the Link Bus Rapid Transit construction out front: you can still use the parking lot, so turn at 19th Avenue and pull in as normal.

Tyrol's note gets at the real problem on 2nd Street SW this fall. The businesses across from Saint Marys can still be reached. What they're short on is people who remember that.

The Barricades Changed a Habit Before They Changed Access

Thesis Beer Project said this directly. When the brewery announced in August that it would close, it named the construction along 2nd Street SW out front and said, as KROC reported:

"The longer these projects go on, the more we are seeing people avoid 2nd Street altogether."

The owners told KTTC that business had fallen nearly 50%. They had planned to stay open into December. The taproom closed on September 29, 2026, as the Post Bulletin reported, even though shows were still booked through October.

A month earlier, Thai-riffic closed its storefront on August 27 after what its owners called two long years of construction challenges. They are still doing catering. At Uni Uni Bubble Tea, owner Joy Tiger told the Post Bulletin in May, "People don't want to come here. Even my own friends think it's a huge hassle to come here."

The city's own estimate of that hassle is much smaller. The joint downtown construction site says that in most cases, detours add only 30 to 60 seconds to the average walk, and parking is still available nearby in lots or on neighborhood streets. So a one-minute detour, repeated for over a year, ended up costing one brewery about half its business.

What Changed on the Corridor in the Last Three Weeks

If your sense of 2nd Street SW comes from a frustrating drive last spring, it's out of date. These are the changes posted since mid-September, from the city's What's Changing Next log and its October 9 Link update:

1. September 25: 2nd Street reopened to one lane in each direction at Civic Center Drive.
2. September 26: Traffic at 2nd Street SW and Highway 52 shifted to the south side of the road. This was pushed back from the 21st because of weather.
3. October 7: Drivers can no longer turn off 2nd Street SW onto 3rd Avenue SW and continue north. The street has been vacated for private development, so this closure is permanent.
4. October 12 through 22: Access between 16th Avenue SW and 2nd Street SW is closed while crews finish street and sidewalk concrete. Vehicles detour via 17th Avenue SW. Eastbound and westbound traffic stays open on the south side of 2nd Street. The north side and its sidewalk stay closed in the work zone, and the 13th Avenue SW intersection stays open as an alternate route.

The city posts a daily interactive construction impacts map. Turn on its "Future Road Impact" layer to see what's coming next.

How to Get to the Four That Are Still Serving

The city's What's Open directory lists the corridor businesses with an entrance plan for each. The page isn't dated and says hours can change, so check with a business before you go. Tyrol's own site confirms it was open as of today. Canadian Honker's site shows an active breakfast promotion and a hiring notice. Uni Uni's status comes from the May Post Bulletin report, and Francisco's from its online ordering page, which also isn't dated.

A few details that make the trip easier:

• Canadian Honker has a weekday "Detour Deal" breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday, for a limited time. It also lists a Saturday night prime rib special.
• Delivery drivers picking up from Canadian Honker or Francisco's have dedicated parking on 12th Avenue SW and on 1st Street SW between 12th and 11th Avenues.
• Francisco's is family owned and serves Caribbean food. The directory calls homemade island flavor its specialty.
• Uni Uni opened in early 2023 in the 84-year-old building that housed Fiksdal Flowers for almost 70 years. The city has put up banner signs about the parking behind the shop.
• Tyrol has been selling outdoor gear in Rochester since 1965. Its full-time staff have been there an average of 25 years.

Why the Next Two Months Carry More Weight Than the Next Ten

The big date everyone has heard is August 2027. That's when the city expects fare-free Link service to start, according to its October 9 update. The city has also set a nearer target. In a statement to KTTC after Thai-riffic closed, a city spokesperson said access along 2nd Street is expected to improve starting in November, with a goal of at least one lane in each direction from Highway 52 to Broadway by December. The spokesperson added that schedules are subject to change. That forecast dates from late August. The October 9 update didn't repeat it, so for now it's still a goal.

The timing matters because winter is the slowest stretch on the corridor. In the same Post Bulletin report, Uni Uni's winter business was described as a fraction of its summer business. If the December goal holds, the corridor goes into the slowest part of the year with traffic moving both ways for the first time in months. The construction is also bigger than the bus line. Mayo Clinic started building an $11 million pedestrian tunnel right next to Uni Uni's east side, running under 2nd Street to a transit stop.

The work won't be finished after this winter either. The city has described Link's construction season as March 2026 through August 2027. Separately, Destination Medical Center says a set of street, water and sewer projects around Mayo's campus expansion is expected to run through 2029.

Why the Help Arrives as Marketing

The public response so far points straight back to customer traffic. Rochester's Business Forward program mainly gives marketing support to businesses hurt by the 2nd Street construction. It started with $350,000. In September, the Destination Medical Center Corporation approved another $500,000, and the City Council signed off on the new funding last Monday, KTTC reported. DMC says the money goes to outreach, access and visibility, targeted promotions, and efforts to bring in customers.

Some businesses said cash for things like payroll and rent would help more. Ward One council member Patrick Keane explained why that isn't possible: "State law, federal law makes it a very clear that a city government cannot take public money and give it, cash infuse it, into businesses." He added that federal Link funding makes it even harder. Jenna Bowman, the city's Director of Strategic Communications and Engagement, said the city is trying to "do as much as we can as quickly as we can to support businesses."

What has worked before has been customers showing up. Thai-riffic's owners told KTTC that the city's signs and social media posts weren't enough, but "what really helped was Thursdays on First." That summer series ran June 11 through August 13. No fall or winter promotion for 2nd Street SW with set dates has been announced yet under the new funding. Until one is, the corridor's customers are the people who already know to turn at 19th Avenue, park behind Uni Uni, or show up for a weekday breakfast at the Honker.

Road projects like Link change how people reach a place, and that matters to anyone with property in the area as much as to anyone looking for lunch. If you own near the 2nd Street SW corridor, or anywhere else a long construction season is changing traffic, John Nelson can walk you through how buyers in his market are responding. Schedule your free market consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.