Bismarck's only major road project, a mile stretch of University Drive to South 12th Street, continues on schedule though traffic will have to deal with some minor detours starting next week.

The concrete section of the reconstruction, on the west side of street adjacent to the fire station, is nearly complete with Atlas having poured the sidewalk, curb and gutter this week, according to Northern Improvement's Bruce Thompson.

The concrete section has been divided into three sections, and next week, work will begin on the center section between the Holiday Service Station and the fire station. Southbound traffic will be rerouted to cross the new concrete section, while northbound will be placed in the land farthest to the east.

This work will take about three weeks before the center section is finished, and then work will proceed on the remaining section in front of Holiday.

Storm sewer construction, being handled by Cofell's Plumbing & Heating, which started at the fire station and headed south, has now reached Wachter Avenue. Next week, Northern Improvement will start subgrade work following Cofell's route south. This will include subcutting and graveling of the base.

Thompson says motorists can expect access to Denver and Wachter to be closed as Northern's work proceeds. Detours will be provided and the avenues will not be closed at the same time during the process. "There will be some temporary closures while we do the subcutting and graveling, but there will be detours. They'll probably be closed for a couple of days, but we'll only be doing one at a time. Once we have the gravel down we'll try to open them again," he says.

"Traffic has been flowing pretty good. I was down there today and didn't see any problems and I haven't heard of any either," Thompson said.

Crews won't be working on the July Fourth holiday, and Wachter and Denver avenues will be open.

Only one day was lost last week because of the rains, and the project remains on track. Expectations are to have the west lanes complete by mid- to the end of July, at which time traffic will be switched over to allow work to begin on the east side.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)