Laravel 5 allow console commands to run in maintenance mode

Using Laravel 5.2 to put the app in maintenance mode using artisan:

artisan down

However console commands don't seem to work, and my queues have paused.

How to allow console commands to run, but prevent any users from logging in?

Use case: cron job calls artisan command which polls a directory on a server. When it finds a semaphore it queues the related files for processing. There are times when I just want to stop any users from using the gui, but still allow the queues to get processed.

1. put the app in a state where http/s routes are disabled, but console commands can still run.

2. still have the ability to run artisan down when I want to, say, restore a backup. In this case, it is understood that console commands will be blocked.

These SO answers were helpful, but not exactly what is needed.

[Laravel FrozenNode Administrator run in maintenance mode

[Laravel 4 bypass maintenance mode for a route

via Chebli Mohamed