Second Street SW's Closures Came Weeks Before the Street Reopens. Here's Who Is Still Open.

Thesis Beer Project closed its taproom on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, a few months before the year-end date its owners had first announced. Five days earlier, the Destination Medical Center board packet listed the Second Street SW closure in front of Saint Marys as scheduled to reopen by November 2026. The brewery and the reopening were on the same calendar, only a few weeks apart.

That gap explains this fall on Second Street SW. The closures that have made headlines this year came in the final months of the corridor's heaviest Link Bus Rapid Transit construction. The City's own support plan treats December 2026 as the end of the "significant roadway, access, and station-construction impacts" phase. The businesses still open on the 1100 and 1200 blocks have lasted to the point where the street starts coming back.

Four closures, one stated reason

The losses came over seven months. All four businesses pointed to the same cause.

Thesis had been a brewery and live music venue since 2019. In August, its owners told KTTC that roadwork stretching late into 2027 was more than the business could wait out. Mill Valley Kitchen opened in summer 2024 in the former Pescara's space, at street level in the University of Minnesota Rochester Student Life Center. It is run by the owners of Benedict's Morning Heroes, and it lasted about two years at that address. When Mill Valley announced the closure, company spokesperson Mike Rakun described what the downtown businesses still open are also dealing with:

"Like many downtown businesses, we've navigated an extended period of construction, changing traffic patterns, and the challenges that come with operating in the middle of a downtown undergoing significant transformation."

The Post Bulletin's report on Mill Valley called it "the latest in a list of businesses that have either closed or scaled back amid more than a year of construction."

The calendar the closures just missed

The construction schedule shows how close these closures came to the turning point. Every date below is a planned date, and some have already moved because of weather. The traffic shift at Highway 52, for example, was pushed from September 21 to September 26.

1. September 25. Second Street reopened at Civic Center Drive with one lane in each direction. The rehabilitated 3rd Avenue SE bridge nearby had reopened on August 31.
2. October 7, 2026. Access to 3rd Avenue SW from Second Street ended permanently.
3. October 30, 2026. Utility work between 14th Avenue SW and Highway 52 is scheduled to finish. It moved from the south half of the street to the north half on September 14.
4. By November 2026. The road closure in front of Saint Marys is scheduled to reopen, and the East Terminus station at 6th Street SE and 3rd Avenue SE is scheduled to be finished.
5. December 2026. The board packet projects at least one travel lane each way from Broadway to Highway 52, and one lane each way from West Transit Village to Broadway.
6. January through March 2027. The work becomes more localized, mostly stations, utilities and streetscape. The Civic Center and Library stations are scheduled for completion in February.
7. April 2027. The 2nd Avenue platform outside Mayo is scheduled to be done. That work started October 1, timed with the opening of the Gonda East valet drop-off. The West Transit Village station and bathrooms are scheduled for substantial completion the same month.
8. Late summer 2027. DMC's target for the start of Link service. Other City materials say first rides in fall 2027, so the public target is best read as late summer to fall.

KTTC reported in August that the roadwork stretches into late 2027, and that is accurate for the full project. For someone walking or driving to the blocks across from Saint Marys, though, the street is scheduled to start opening back up in a matter of weeks.

Who is still on the 1100 and 1200 blocks

The September DMC packet named the businesses that remain open and accessible near Saint Marys. The addresses below come from the City's construction directory. That directory is undated and still lists Thai Riffic and Thesis as open, so check hours with each business directly.

• Anderson Wheelchair, 1117 Second St. SW
• Francisco's, 1137 Second St. SW
• Café Steam, 1147 Second St. SW
• Canadian Honker, 1203 Second St. SW
• Uni Uni Bubble Tea, 1227 Second St. SW

Café Steam opened in the middle of all this. The Post Bulletin reported in December 2025 that the local coffee company would open its fourth Rochester shop on March 15, 2026, in the former Caribou Coffee space across from Mayo Clinic Hospital-Saint Marys. It serves locally roasted coffee, pastries and house-made syrups. By September, the DMC packet was calling it "newly opened." It is the one new business on these blocks this year, and it opened while barriers were still up on the street.

Uni Uni has had a harder time. In May, the Post Bulletin profiled the boba shop as an island in the construction zone, with sales down sharply and its owner determined to stay open. Uni Uni sits at 1227 and Thai Riffic sat at 1217, so the closure and the shop that stayed were neighbors on the same stretch.

What the new $500,000 can and cannot do

In late September, the Destination Medical Center Corporation approved $500,000 in Link contingency funding for the City's Business Forward program. DMC's release said the City Council would consider the item next. The board packet divides the money as follows:

• $300,000 for business support and engagement
• $200,000 for marketing, promotion and the construction-mitigation experience

None of it goes to businesses as cash. Under the rules for the state-provided DMC dollars, the program can't pay businesses directly or cover their operating costs to make up lost revenue. The eligible uses all aim to bring customers in, such as targeted traffic incentives, promotions, and events. Earlier rounds paid for business signage, Google and Meta geomarketing, brochures and coupons, a $15,000 Neighborly voucher program, and a corridor event called Link-or-Treat.

The plan follows the construction calendar above. Through December, the money is aimed at the heaviest roadway and access impacts. From January through March 2027, it shifts to localized mitigation and help for individual businesses. From April through September 2027, the focus moves to BRT readiness, customer education, and activity along the corridor around opening. The approved materials don't yet name a specific campaign, passport promotion or parking-validation program. Customer traffic is the only thing the program can pay for, and the businesses near Saint Marys will see it this winter, just as the street begins to reopen.

Getting to the block while it changes

Street conditions on the corridor change week to week, so a fixed map goes stale quickly. The City and DMC keep an interactive construction map with current road and sidewalk closures, detours, and walking and bike routes. The DMC packet says it's updated weekly and gets more than 1,000 unique views a week. The same site's access page covers pedestrian walkways, wayfinding signage, and nearby parking for the businesses that are still open.

On the Saint Marys stretch, the City has added temporary food pick-up parking spots and wayfinding signs, and kiosk map displays stand along Second Street SW. Drivers who used to reach 3rd Avenue SW from Second Street will need a new route, since that access closed for good on October 7. The City's Link updates and the DMC Business Forward announcement are the places to watch for any schedule changes and for the promotions that the new funding pays for.

Second Street SW has a dated schedule for reopening, and the corridor's businesses and the blocks around them will change along with it. If you own a home near the corridor or are weighing a move nearby, SAVIA Group Real Estate can go through the Link timeline with you and what it means for your plans over the next few years. Schedule a consultation when you're ready.