WATERLOO - Six survivors met over coffee on Thursday morning.

They and the Uptown Waterloo restaurants they own made it to The End.

The end of 2 1/2 years of construction projects, that is.

"I think it's important to mention how amazing it is that anyone really made it, right? That we actually got through it," said Nick Benninger, who runs Harmony Lunch, Marbles, Nick and Nat's and Taco Farm.

"It was tough. Sales down 50 per cent, whatever everybody's stories are. This is the prize now - the streets opening and business coming back."

Yes, King Street opens to traffic again Friday afternoon, from the public square up to Bridgeport Road.

The Region of Waterloo streetscaping and reconstruction on King, from the Ion light rail tracks south of Erb Street to Elgin Street, is essentially complete. There are new sewers and water mains, new asphalt, and new curbs and sidewalks. Even holiday decorations will be going up.

It's the last five-month leg of a massive makeover that six java-sipping restaurateurs who gathered Thursday survived start to finish.

The unearthing of corduroy road logs under King Street during light rail transit construction in 2016 feels like ancient history now.

"This wasn't just a makeover," said Rob Theodosiou of Settlement Co. and Abe Erb Brew Pub. "This was open heart surgery. This was taking the spinal cord out of a city and replacing it."

Now, it's time for the weary patient to rise from the slab.

Erb Street, from Caroline to King, and Albert Street are opening too. The two-way detour on Bridgeport will be removed on Saturday. An LRT-serviced future awaits in 2018.

"We're focused on the future," said Jody Palubiski, whose Charcoal Group runs Beertown and the Bauer Kitchen in the uptown.

And what exactly is the future?

It starts at 5 p.m. Friday when a horse-drawn trolley ride runs along King, from Union Street through the uptown. Construction gear will be gone. The trolley ride will pull through town as December begins the countdown to Christmas. Guaranteed, right?

"Take it to the bank," said Patti Brooks, executive director of the Uptown Waterloo business improvement area.

"The sidewalks are in. The curbs are in. There's starting to be some pretty happy faces around here."

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And finally, there will be traffic. That has been a rarity in recent months.

"Why is there a car going by?" Courtney Martin would ask when she and Devon McKenzie would see a four-wheeled blur occasionally slip past their Stark & Perri bar and grill at the height of construction.

Heck, Theodosiou hasn't seen a car outside Abe Erb for two-plus years.

"Seeing a car go by is going to be freaky to us," he said. "Or a bus."

On Friday afternoon, a tidal wave of traffic will be unleashed across their front bows.

"Everything seems to be aligned to make that happen," regional engineer and senior project manager Eric Saunderson said on Thursday.

Finally, The End is arriving.

"It has been two tough years," said Jody Ness of Wildfire Steakhouse. "But the visuals now, the esthetics . I mean, for 10, 15, 20 good years ahead, that's a great price to pay. Let's do what we can to bring everybody back because this is beautiful."

Theodosiou has a simpler battle cry.

"Let's get back to normal."