Kingsport Main Street Rebuild passes halfway mark

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL) — Kingsport leaders say work on the $20 million Main Street Rebuild Project is now more than halfway complete.

Kingsport Public Works Director Michael Thompson told News Channel 11 that the project was at or past the “halfway mark,” both in terms of timeline and distance along Main Street.

“I’m excited,” Thompson said. “I’m really happy that people can start to see what the final product is going to look like.”

Thompson said the Sullivan Street end of the project most closely resembles what the whole street will look like at the end.

Thompson said crews have buried utilities between Sullivan Street and Cherokee Street and have begun paving and adding new curbs and new on-street parking. But the project still has months to go as crews move toward downtown.

The work is still heavily impacting business owners like King’s Sport Axe House’s Paul Supino.

“With the decreased traffic, you’re going to have decreased visibility,” Supino told News Channel 11. “And without people driving by the area, it has hurt business a little bit. “

Overall, Supino says he’s mostly excited to see the end result and appreciative of the city’s communication and cooperation throughout the process.

“I’m just looking forward to beautiful Main Street,” Supino said. “People are going to be walking around, they’re going to be driving up and down Main Street. Once it’s done, it’s going to be great.”

The project did hit a snafu in September when it was delayed due to contaminated soil. But since then, Kingsport’s Thompson said the project has been running on schedule.

“We’ll continue doing curb work and sidewalk, working our way towards Cherokee Street and hope to have everything looking as good as this here all the way to Cherokee by the end of June,” Thompson said.

The project is scheduled for completion in April 2025.

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