A permit allowing a contractor to close a section of Island Home Avenue has been extended to Dec. 31.

Stone has been placed for the new roadbed, and asphalt will be laid as soon as two conditions are met: The road subgrade must be dry, and temperatures must be warm enough to pave.

The contractor, Empire Construction, has been given a 13-day extension to reopen the section of Island Home Avenue between 1650 Island Home Avenue and Maplewood Drive. Once the paving is done and the lanes striped, two-way traffic on that section of Island Home Avenue – one lane for eastbound motorists, another for westbound motorists – will resume.

Recent rainy weather has delayed work associated with the building of the River’s Edge 134-unit apartment complex, a $14 million private investment on the South Waterfront.

Tests show that the soil is correctly compacted to allow the paving to be done once the base stone dries out.

Empire Construction has been realigning and grading the shifted section of road, relocating underground gas, water and sewer lines and constructing a retaining wall. As part of the project, the contractor also is constructing an 800-foot-long public riverwalk and a new public road, Splendid View Circle.