Ninth Street construction strains downtown Lawrence businesses as project continues

Ninth Street’s long construction run is cutting deeper into downtown Lawrence than traffic delays. Two restaurants, Fork & Tumbler and 9th Street Mexican Tacos, have already closed as work continues on the Jayhawk Watershed project, and Great Harvest Bread Co. owner Tim Laird said sales at the bakery are down about 8% to 10%.

The strain is showing in the day-to-day math of small businesses that depend on steady foot traffic. Laird said the project has had a dramatic impact on the street, even as owners try to stay optimistic about getting through the work and keeping customers coming back. For businesses on and around Ninth Street, the question is no longer just how long drivers will need to detour, but how long they can absorb lower receipts and still make payroll.

The city says the watershed project began in late March 2025 and is designed to address flooding from the University of Kansas campus to the Kansas River. The drainage system includes an underground stone culvert built in 1911, and city materials say it now provides less than a two-year level of service, meaning there is a 50% chance any storm could overwhelm it. The work is being done in phases and carries a price tag described in city and media reports as roughly $20 million to $25 million.

The project also is changing the street itself. City guidance says Ninth Street is being reconfigured from four lanes to three from Illinois Street to Vermont Street, with wider bike lanes, wider parking spaces, ADA sidewalk upgrades, a pedestrian hybrid beacon at Ninth and Louisiana, and replacement of sanitary sewers and water mains. City staff proposed keeping parts of Ninth Street closed through summer 2026 rather than reopening for the World Cup, and commissioners approved an additional $4.82 million tied to the changes in December 2025.

A city survey of 17 business owners and employees found 10 preferred a single long closure, three preferred a split-closure option and four had no preference. The closure between Indiana Street and Mississippi Street is expected to end in August, but the broader watershed project is scheduled to run until March 31, 2027. The city says the work is part of a larger downtown-to-KU corridor plan that could eventually connect with the KU Gateway Project south of Ninth Street.