JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL) - West Walnut Street in downtown Johnson City has been under construction for around three years. While there is still work to be done, City Engineer Wallace McCullough said he is happy with the progress made.

The project is considered "substantially complete" by McCullough due to the open roads accessible by drivers. However, the road will need another layer of asphalt once the weather gets warm.

"That'll probably happen in mid-spring, we're hoping," said McCullough. "You can't pave now, it's too cold. But we'll finish up all the sidewalks and the landscaping."

The project has hit unexpected roadblocks along the way, mainly due to additions to the project.

"There's a number of things that were added to the project that weren't there originally," said McCullough. "So it's sort of expanded over and above what everybody expected."

Joey Booth, who owns Mojo Skate Shop on the street, has been following the project since public meetings began. He said the project timeline, and potential delays, were made clear from the beginning.

"They told us this was going to be an approximately two-and-a-half-year project if all goes well," Booth said. "If [they] don't hit rock and the weather holds up. It's a long time in the grand scheme of things, but they told us it's going to be that long."

Booth said that his customers are mostly concerned about how the construction might affect his business.

"They have been concerned for me and asked me, 'Has this been bothering your business?'" said Booth. "I've never had anyone not be able to get here, people just found a way to get here."

McCullough said the final layer of asphalt will signal the end of the project.

"There's the electrical that has to be finished," said McCullough. "There's finishing up the sidewalk, there's landscaping and once all that work has been done, then we'll put down the final surface. When you see the final asphalt surface going down, that'll take two weeks or something and then we'll be done."