As of 3 a.m. on Wednesday, April 24, Boylston Street is once again open to the public, almost nine full days after it was shut down due to the Boston Marathon bombing. On Monday, the FBI cleared the area as a crime scene, turning control of the Copley Square area back over to Mayor Tom Menino in a ceremony, and on Tuesday, business owners and residents were allowed to re-enter the street. Finally, on Wednesday, MBTA buses, pedestrians, schoolchildren and employees returned, making Boylston once again the bustling street we’ve always known it to be.

This morning, Mayor Menino tweeted the words Boston has been waiting to hear:

[blackbirdpie url=”https://twitter.com/mayortommenino/status/327011521869795328″]

However, not all is back to normal on Boylston Street.

Windows in several restaurants and retailers are boarded up, facing severe damage after the explosions that rocked the city last week. Roses, t-shirts and other mementos lay on the sidewalk near the site of the two bombings, honoring the victims wounded and killed there.

The makeshift memorial that started at the Boylston Street police barricades has been reincarnated in Copley Square, piled high with notes, teddy bears, running shoes and candles in commemoration of that fateful Marathon Monday.

The Boston Marathon finish line — once a bright blue and yellow, now dirtied after being part of a crime scene — remains painted on the street, serving as a visual reminder of President Obama’s promise: “We will finish the race.”

Boylston Street is not quite what it once was, but it is certainly stronger.