The designs for an improvement project in suburban Johnstown are nearing completion. 6 News reported last month that the Goucher Street Improvement Project has been pushed back to 2014 because of a separate project on Menoher Boulevard that will impede detours.

It's been a controversial project from the very beginning, and construction hasn't even started yet. But the project design is nearing completion, and that's why the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it wants to meet with business owners and let them know what will happen so that when it comes time, they'll be impacted as little as possible.

PennDot plans to widen most areas of Goucher Street. The goal is to redesign turning lanes, better coordinate traffic signals and widen lanes for better mobility. It also plans to improve sidewalks and crossing zones for safer pedestrian travel.

But the project has received a great deal of backlash from residents and business owners alike. PennDot said it's necessary to remove 49 trees to make the improvements, something that has residents in an uproar. Many people have tied yellow ribbons around their trees and have posted signs that read, "Save Our Streets."

Business owners fear they'll lose customers once the project begins due to changed traffic patterns and limited parking.

On Friday, PennDot plans to meet with business owners who will be affected by the project. It said it's a chance to talk about plans and let business owners know exactly what's going to happen.

"We want have the discussions one-on-one with them: how they're impacted, what's going to occur in front of their project," said Alice Hammond, senior manager for the project. "We have a few options for traffic control during construction in-between that area that we're going to be going over with them and find out which one would least impact their business."

PennDot said it plans to hold more public meetings on the project later next year when it will release the final project designs. Until then, it is working on a newsletter for residents that it plans to distribute next month.