The Georgia Department of Transportation began work last week on repairing the heavily traversed intersection at North Clarendon Avenue and U.S. 278. General work hours are Monday-Friday, 7 a.m.-4 p.m., with completion scheduled for Feb. 2020. City Manager Patrick Bryant said that construction should only “minimally” affect area businesses and traffic.

The project includes replacing curbs and raising them from the street, repairing sidewalks, repaving the streets, adding pedestrian signals with countdown timers at crossings and addressing drainage issues.

The work will also attempt to improve the turning radius at 17 North Avondale Road (the Stratford Pub) where buses and other large vehicles, turning right from 278 onto Clarendon, consistently run over and destroy the curbing.

The project has been on the backburner since at least Nov. 2017, when the city received a grant for the design portion, with Avondale Estates funding $29,950 and GDOT the remaining $150,000.