Construction is a “cold and impersonal thing,” Qiqi Chen, the owner of Red Pepper, said about the Jayhawk Watershed Project work that has shut down multiple blocks of Ninth Street for months.
So far, two restaurants on the street — Fork & Tumbler and 9th Street Mexican Tacos — have had to throw in the towel, while even established locales experience declining sales.
Tim Laird recently purchased Great Harvest Bread Co. with his wife, lifelong Lawrencian Jenny Laird. They took over ownership on Monday.
Great Harvest, 501 W. Ninth St., sits at the edge of the main thrust of construction that’s closing Ninth Street between Indiana and Mississippi Streets to all through traffic. Tim said that the construction did not affect his negotiations with the previous owner, although sales have been down between roughly 8% to 10%.
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“It’s the cost of doing business; it’s going to happen,” he said.
Great Harvest has been around for about 30 years, Tim said, and he’s intent on it thriving for 30 more. But he has watched the construction “crush” other businesses on the street, and is wary of any unexpected street closures or delays.
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“I understand forward progress, so I’m not disappointed, but I think I also understand construction projects that are originally planned for eight months that go longer and longer and longer and longer and longer,” Tim said. “And I don’t want this to be something that drags out for several years. It has had a dramatic impact.”
Michael Leos, a spokesperson for the city’s Municipal Services and Operations department, confirmed that Ninth Street construction will end in August, and the full watershed project will wrap in March 2027.
“No knock on the construction, because, you know, it had to be done, and it’s being done,” said Rob Coleman, co-owner of Fork & Tumbler, which closed May 2.
Through the project, the city plans to improve stormwater infrastructure to address flooding and drainage; replace or upgrade sanitary sewers and water mains; reconfigure Ninth Street from four to three lanes between Illinois and Kentucky Streets; and improve safety and walkability with ADA-compliant sidewalks, wider bike lanes, a “pedestrian hybrid beacon” and more.
Fork & Tumbler, previously 616 W. Ninth St., was flooded with customers the Friday after they announced their closure, with hourlong wait times.
A customer walking from the parking spots the city added in the middle of Ninth Street between Tennessee and the closure had to traverse a foot-deep dirt pit left behind by a torn-up alley; duck under construction tape; and trail along a fence directly abutting the sidewalk.
Coleman said the shuttering was due to many factors, construction among them. Fork & Tumbler opened in June 2024, and was still a newer business catching Lawrence’s eye. Without the stability of easy access and foot traffic — and thanks to the ever-rising prices of business operations — they struggled. Eight or nine people lost jobs, but Coleman said he and his partner are trying to place them elsewhere.
Previously, Coleman had said he hoped the city would offer compensation to Ninth Street stores and restaurants. But money never came through, and during his restaurant’s final week, Coleman reflected on the tax breaks that places like Q39 received to open downtown.
“It’s just without the help of your local city, you know, your city government, who wants to bring in chains instead of taking care of their local people, and it’s kind of sad,” Coleman said.
The city did put up signage throughout town to direct traffic and display the names of the businesses. They’ve asked people to keep supporting the stores in newsletters, while adding extra parking to the middle of the street.
“The project team has engaged our local businesses with in person public meetings dating back to 2023, scheduled group meetings with impacted business owners, and a weekly update email send to businesses,” Leos said via email. “Additionally, our team continues to hold ‘office hours’ where business owners can meet with our project manager and contractor team on 9th Street and discuss concerns, phasing plans, and next steps.”
For Angelina Cruz, owner of Burrito King and 9th Street Mexican Tacos, that wasn’t enough.
She closed her taco shop on Feb. 15. Two employees lost their jobs, and she was able to move two more over to Burrito King.
Once construction started, dirt billowed into the main patio seating area if they kept the windows open, and a few times, staff showed up to find the power shut off. Thousands of dollars worth of food had to be thrown out each time.
“They owe us compensation for this,” she said.
“I brag about my city to everybody, how much I love where I’m at,” she added. “And I wouldn’t be able to do the things I do if I lived anywhere else, you know, but right now, I’m just mad at my city for literally just breaking me down.”
Even Burrito King, an established drive-thru, has had a precipitous drop in sales — game days that used to rake in $10K and $15K now average $6K, she said.
Cruz said she temporarily supplemented the taco shop with profits from Burrito King, but it wasn’t sustainable.
“That’s why we had to shut the other one down, because I can’t lose both my businesses because of this construction,” she said.
In the case of Red Pepper, a Chinese restaurant at 847 Indiana St., the city purchased a temporary construction easement and poured concrete to make a temporary driveway from Indiana Street to their parking lot.
“Due to construction, the parking lot for Red Pepper was not going to be accessible from 9th Street,” Leos wrote.
The city is required to maintain local access to the Ninth Street businesses. Leos said that the ad hoc driveway will be removed once construction is over.
Qiqi Chen, who co-owns Red Pepper with her husband, said the modification helped, but they’ve still lost business.
Chen, like many of her fellow business owners, said it would help if the government offered more free advertisements, funding support and tax support.
“The only thing I know is that all of us are trying to survive from this, every employee has their own family and we need to pay for our bills,” Chen wrote via email.
Coleman, Cruz and Chen all tipped their hats to their customer communities.
“(The) people of Lawrence have made us feel truly warm and supported,” Chen said. “From the bottom of our heart, all of our staff would like to say thank you to everyone.”
Coleman grew up in Lawrence and said that even in the final days of the restaurant, he cherished seeing childhood friends stop by to get a meal.
He added that other Ninth Street restaurants, like Big Mill and Red Pepper, will keep seeing him around: “I want to give back and … I want them to be successful.”
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