Beginning Thursday, October 15, the 200 Block of S. Gay Street will be closed for construction as part of the ongoing Gay Street Streetscapes Project.

The section of Gay Street lies between Summit Hill and Vine Avenue and it will be closed for up to three months for the reconstruction of the street and sidewalks.

Vine Avenue will remain open across Gay Street during construction.

While the road will be closed for the duration of the project one of the sidewalks will always be open for pedestrian traffic. The west sidewalk will be closed for construction first leaving the sidewalk on the east side of the street open for foot traffic.

The new sidewalks will be wider and the street narrower than the existing ones and the work on the 200 Block will preview the eventual reconstruction of Gay Street and the sidewalks from Summit Hill all the way down to Jackson Avenue.

"It's really going to be a little example of what we'll have when we finish," said Rick Emmett, the city's urban growth manager.

In addition to the reconstruction of the street and sidewalks the near $4 million Gay Street Streetscapes Project includes electrical infrastructure improvements and sidewalk improvements like trees, street furniture and bike racks.

The 100 Block of Gay Street was raised more than a story above the original street in 1919 and sits atop a bridge-like support structure. This is the first major maintenance work on the street since it was raised 90 years ago.