If you have driven through Downtown Lynchburg lately, you may have noticed the ongoing construction on Commerce Street.
As of right now Jim Talian, special projects manager with the city's Department of Water Resources, said they are on schedule.
The construction, however, has impacted the few businesses on that part of Commerce Street like Mission House Coffee.
Tommy Clark, the owner of the coffee shop, said construction is always a challenging thing and business has been slower.
Clark has definitely seen a decline in the summer since many college students are not in town.
He also acknowledged that it can be difficult to get in and out of Commerce Street, so he has seen a drop from that.
Despite this challenge, Clark said the community support means a lot.
"We've had a lot of customers that have said that they want to come on a regular basis. We do have a lot of walking customers and businesses around us that continue to support us and that's fantastic," he said.
Talian said they do check in with the few businesses on Commerce Street who are impacted by the ongoing construction, and they do keep in touch with them on a regular basis about the progression of the project.
Right now, Talian said they are close to finishing the underground utility work which is set to be done by mid-September.
Then, they will focus on the sidewalks throughout the winter on Commerce, Seventh, and Eighth streets.
By the spring, he said they will start to rebuild the streets starting with the 700 block of Commerce Street and then working to the 500 and 600 blocks.
"If we're gonna go into an area and disrupt it, we want to do everything. We want to do the water and the sewer and the storm and the streets and the sidewalks so that once we are done, you don't have to worry about us coming back," he said.
Traffic should be flowing throughout the winter though there might be some lost parking spots, Talian said.
All of the disruptive work will be completed by July 2023 Talian said.