Drivers can expect traffic delays across central Gainesville to end no earlier than September 2011, according to a state official.
Resurfacing of the roadway and adjacent sidewalks that began in mid-June on Northwest and Southwest 13th Street (U.S. Highway 441) will progress to Main Street on Sept. 1 and to University Avenue on Jan. 1.
According to the Florida Department of Transportation spokeswoman Laurie Windham, Main Street will be permanently reduced from four lanes to two in the one-mile stretch between North 8th Avenue and North 23rd Avenue, increasing downtown public parking.
The construction of the three areas will cost at least $13 million and be funded by state taxes, requiring an estimated 8,640 hours of labor, she said.
During resurfacing, asphalt on the roadway is replaced and damaged sidewalk areas are repaired, she said. While sidewalk repairs require minimal lane closures and can be completed throughout the day, road repaving can cause major delays .
Nighttime paving for the 13th Street phase, which stretches four miles from Southwest Archer Road to Northwest Sixth Avenue, will begin Aug. 1 and continue for up to three months, according to a press release by the transportation department.
The paving schedules for Main Street and University Avenue have not been decided.
While 13th Street and University Avenue will each take six months to complete, the Main Street renewal is a two-year project, Windham said.
Windham said despite recent weather delays, all work on the 13th Street phase is still expected to end in December. Some early utility work at the Main Street site began in June.
The resurfacing is routine maintenance carried out by the transportation department in order to comply with state standards, said Regina Hawkins, a public education specialist for the city of Gainesville.
New criteria call for the installation of detector devices on curbs for the visually impaired and wider ramps for those in wheelchairs. Bike lanes will be added to all three roads.
"It has been on the drawing board for a long time,"Windham said. "It was definitely [the roads'] turn."
She said the project is not part of President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package. Businesses that have driveways leading onto 13th Street say they have not been affected by the road work.
"I can't really say that we have been hurt at all by it,"said Ryan Levine, guest service manager of the Holiday Inn University Center.
The pockets of those caught speeding in the areas, however, will be take a hit-state law allows for a 200 percent fine increase in active construction zones.
V.E. Whitehurst and Sons, Inc., of Williston, was contracted for the 13th Street resurfacing for $3.9 million. The other two projects are still being bid on by independent contractors, Windham said.
