Northeast Minneapolis business struggle to recover after construction along Hennepin Avenue

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s a familiar sight known all too well by residents and business owners in northeast Minneapolis: lengthy construction seasons spanning months at a time.

The project along Hennepin Avenue added bike lanes, safer crossings and transit priority lanes but not customers.

“My wife would be out here every day and she’d be posting a photo of a massive machine tearing up the concrete,” Rich Horton co-owner of Relish.

For Horton, picking up where they left off before construction season has been a struggle.

“It seemed like we were on an upward trajectory and then it dropped off,” Horton said.

Construction in the neighborhood began in April.

“It was a six-month process, it seemed in the whole neighborhood. It hit us hard in the last two months,” Horton said.

Morgan Foley, took over as General Manager at the Rusty Taco right as the construction season started.

“It wasn’t good for us at all,” Foley said.

Like many other businesses in the area, projected sales were down.

“We never hit our summer sales, we lost a lot of money,” Foley said.

Just around the corner, another season of construction will begin in northeast Minneapolis next spring.

“They told us it will be two years and it’s only been a year so far. It’s going to start back up so it’s very frustrating,” Foley said.

Staying positive is all these business owners can do for now.

“Our patio used to be right next to the road, so now it’s going to have a little bit of a bump out with the bike lane. So that’ll be a little better for us,” Horton said.

They’re also spreading the message that streets are back open.

“I think people get sad when it’s gone, but don’t realize some of the businesses are struggling,” Horton said. “Just get out to your local businesses and to support the neighborhoods.”

Hennepin County leaders say the major portion of construction is wrapped up, but they’ll still be finishing parts of the project in 2025.