Question

is thissentence punctuated correctly? "the hardware store down the street, which had been paved recently,is open until midnight five days a week."

Answer 1

If you put capital letters in the right place, yes, that sentence is punctuated correctly. Between the commas, you have a parenthetical element (a clause that can be removed without changing the meaning of the main clause).
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
See #4.

Answer 2

As it reads, one could interpret that the hardware store had been paved!

Sra