A nasty side effect of the nice weather, such as Thursday when highs got around the 70-degree range, is the start of road construction. Drivers finagled their way through three major road projects in Bismarck last summer and will face another reconstruction this year.

You may see equipment moving some soil today. If not, action will begin next week on the $5.2 million reconstruction of Bismarck Expressway from Interstate 94 south to Main Avenue. That section of road hasn't been updated since it was first built in 1963. The project will recreate the current two-lane road into a five-lane road with two lanes each for northbound and southbound traffic and a center turn lane.

The project is slated to end Sept. 10.

Bernie Southam is project engineer for North Dakota Department of Transportation. The main contractor is Upper Plains Contracting of Aberdeen, S.D.

Southam said some existing pipes that run east-west will be replaced. Three temporary bypasses will be in place, moving traffic just off the main road to bypass the pipe projects. The contractor will begin the main road work on the west side with the construction of two new lanes. Traffic will continue to flow north-south on the existing road.

Once the new lanes are finished, work will switch to the existing lanes and traffic will switch to the new lanes.

The speed limit will be 40 mph through the construction zone, except on the bypasses where the limit will be 25 mph.

The project also will feature two new traffic signals, one at Rosser Avenue and the other at Commerce Drive-Revere Drive. A right turn lane also will be added just north of Divide Avenue for traffic heading east on I-94.

All intersections will remain open during the project. A multi-use trail also will be constructed from Divide Avenue to Rosser Avenue.

Traffic counts on that stretch of road show a daily average of 10,700 vehicles. Estimates call for 21,400 vehicles a day by 2022.

The contractor and NDDOT will hold weekly public meetings during the reconstruction. The meetings will be held at 11 a.m. each Thursday in the Oasis lounge, the first one on April 8. You also can get updates online at http://www.bismarckstreets.com.

(Reach reporter Mark Hanson at 250-8264 or mark.hanson@bismarcktribune.com.)