Decatur has begun a month-long milling, patching, repairing and resurfacing of a one-mile stretch of South Columbia Drive from College Avenue south to the city limits near the Friends School.

The work typically lasts from 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. daily with one lane of traffic open at all times. Total cost for the project is estimated at $1,024,742 with the city’s share estimated at $803,172 and the remaining $221,569 coming from a Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant.

The work also includes sidewalk and curb cut repairs along this same stretch.

The city typically selects about one mile of streets each fiscal year for a thorough renovation. The determination’s based on, among other conditions, cracking, rutting, edge cracking, shoulder issues, poor drainage and potholes.

This is separate from another South Columbia project slated for next June. The stretch from Talley Street to Derrydown Way gets narrowed from two 14-foot wide to two 11½ -feet wide lanes, with the two left hand turn lanes, turning north and south onto Derrydown, getting taken out.

Also planned for the same project is 10-foot wide, multi-use path on Columbia’s east side beginning at Talley Street and ending at Legacy Park’s first driveway.