The banner strung high across Salem Street reads "Downtown Apex is open for business," and it is telling the truth in a slightly complicated way. One lane of traffic has been closed since January. Pavers are half-installed on the east side. The American Elms that will eventually shade the sidewalk are still living somewhere else. And yet the coffee is still hot at Foxtail, the popovers are still coming out of the oven at 219 N. Salem, and the Local Spot Passport just came back for its summer run.
This is the summer to learn the detour version of downtown, because it is also the last summer you will get to see it half-built. The finished street is coming. What is happening between now and then is worth paying attention to.
What actually changed on Salem Street this spring
The Salem Streetscape is a $4.7 million project that has closed one lane through the historic district and reduced traffic to southbound flow from Saunders Street to West Chatham Street. Work started in January with an October 2026 finish date. That date has moved. Design tweaks tied to electrical issues paused the project this spring, and the town told the News & Observer in mid-June that completion is now expected between early November and early January.
Sidewalks have stayed open on both sides of the street for the entire project. That matters more than it sounds. The pedestrian experience downtown is basically intact, even if the driving experience is not. Foot traffic to businesses, on the other hand, has taken a hit. A manager at Anna's Pizzeria told WRAL sales were down "10 to 20%," and in early June the used bookstore Alleyway Bookstore announced it would close, citing rising costs and changes in foot traffic during construction. Mayor Jacques Gilbert has been unusually direct about it, writing on Facebook in June that "Many are facing significant economic challenges right now."
If you live here, the most useful thing you can do this summer is walk downtown instead of drive to it, and spend money at the businesses you like while they are still in the middle of the hardest year of their lease.
The storefront shuffle you may have missed
The spring roster on Salem Street looks different than the fall one did. A quick catch-up on what is where:
- Popovers Cafe opened at 219 N. Salem Street with owners Mustafa and Juliette Ozturk running a sweet-and-savory popover concept. Grand opening was this spring.
- Myra Cafe at 76 Hunter Street closed permanently on March 30 after a three-year run. Hope Cafe, a Thai eatery with a Durham location, took the space over on April 1.
- Foxtail Coffee Co. added a second Apex store at 1451 Richardson Road, Suite 126, in Sweetwater Town Center. The original Foxtail near downtown is still open.
- Kaara, a modern Indian fine-dining restaurant, is now open at 2700 Stokesdale Ave, Suite 120, with two dining halls, a private room, and a full bar.
- Lime & Lemon Restaurant & Lounge opened at 2025 Creekside Landing Drive in a 7,000-plus-square-foot space that includes a separate late-night lounge with its own entrance.
- The Provincial at 119 N. Salem, Scratch Kitchen & Taproom at 225 N. Salem, and Osteria G on Sunset Lake Road are all continuing to run downtown-adjacent dining that has held up through construction season.
The pattern to notice is that new openings in Apex right now are clustered in two places: the finished downtown storefronts on Salem, and the newer commercial nodes at Sweetwater and along the Green Level Road corridor. The middle of town is stabilizing while the edges are expanding.
Running the Local Spot Passport when half the street is one-way
The Local Spot Passport is back from June 19 through September 7, 2026. If you have never done it, this is the year. The layout of downtown right now actively rewards walking, and the passport is a walking game.
The mechanics are simple:
- Pick up a free passport at any participating Sip Stop or at The Depot Welcome Center, 220 N Salem Street. You can also print one from home.
- Collect signatures from six Sip Stops and six Shop Stops. No purchase required at either, though supporting local businesses is the whole point.
- Drop the completed passport at The Depot during business hours, weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., to be entered for a Local Spot Summer Prize Pack. There is a mail slot for after-hours drop-off, but you have to appear in person to actually receive a prize.
Local Spot cups can only leave and return to businesses within the designated social district boundary. If you walk to PeakFest's temporary Town Hall Campus footprint or to the Nature Park Amphitheatre, you finish the drink inside the district first. This has always been the rule and it has always tripped people up.
One practical note about parking. With Salem Street reduced to one-way southbound, the smart approach is to park at the Town Hall lot on Hunter Street or in the arch lot and walk in. Trying to drive Salem end-to-end right now is a way to end up going around the block twice.
Saturday night has moved to the Nature Park Amphitheatre
The Halle Cultural Arts Center's summer programming this year is running under the Rhythm & Reels banner at the Apex Nature Park Amphitheatre, 2600 Evans Road. It is free. The format pairs a live music act with a family movie under the stars, and the 2026 lineup runs through soul, honky tonk, and Americana. Announced acts include the rising soul artist Tre.Charles and Greensboro-based Sweet Dream.
Here is what is on the calendar for the second half of summer:
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| June 13 | "Freakier Friday" movie, Rhythm & Reels | Nature Park Amphitheatre |
| June 17 | Wednesday Morning Movie | The Halle, 237 N Salem St |
| June 18 | Learning Lunch, Pollinator Month | Apex Senior Center, 63 Hunter St |
| June 20 | SuperFun Saturday | The Halle |
| Ongoing Saturdays | Sweet Dream concert, Rhythm & Reels | Nature Park Amphitheatre |
Bring a picnic basket. There is no bar service on site, and the amphitheater is a proper walk from downtown, so plan to drive or bike over. The Nature Park is also where PeakFest was relocated in 2026 while Salem Street is torn up, which is a good hint that the town is treating this park as the overflow living room for downtown events all year.
If your out-of-town guests want the "cute historic Apex" experience and the streetscape is at a rough moment, the amphitheater is the better default this summer than a Salem Street stroll. That is a temporary recommendation. It flips back the moment the elms go in.
The Fourth, and the fall date to circle
The Olde Fashioned Fourth of July on Salem Street is still on. The signature piece is the Parade of Wheels down Salem for kids 12 and under, with inflatables, karaoke, and carnival games rounding it out. Given the construction footprint, expect the parade route to feel more compressed than in past years and expect the crowd to lean heavily toward stroller-and-scooter age. Arrive early if you want a shaded spot.
Looking further out, the date to circle is whenever the finish date lands. The town's most recent guidance has slipped from October 2026 to a window between early November and early January. That means the first fully re-opened Salem Street, with two-way traffic restored, new 19-foot decorative light poles, wider sidewalks, benches, and the new Saunders Street Gathering Space with pergolas and a digital kiosk, will almost certainly be a winter reveal rather than a fall one. The Apex Rotary Christmas Parade in early December is the event most likely to be the first real showcase of the finished street, though that depends entirely on how the fall goes.
A note for the people who already live here
You have probably heard someone say downtown Apex is "closed" this summer. It is not. It is one-way, half-paved, and pushing hard for the businesses that took the risk to open a door on Salem Street. If you have not been to Popovers yet, or Hope Cafe, or Kaara, or picked up a passport at The Depot, this is the summer for it. Bella + Mauve Boutique and Virtuoso Jewels are among the operators who have been named publicly as struggling with foot traffic. The mayor's line about small acts of support making a meaningful difference is not a slogan this year. It is arithmetic.
The finished Salem Street will be beautiful. The half-finished one is the version worth walking now, because it is the one your neighbors are working through, and it is the one you will tell stories about when the elms are grown in.
If you are thinking about your next move somewhere in Apex, whether it is a first home near downtown or a step up into one of the newer neighborhoods off Green Level or Richardson Road, Rob Bone has spent nearly four decades in the Triangle and can walk you through what is happening block by block. Get a Free Home Valuation to start the conversation.
