Coulter Avenue will soon switch to single-lane traffic in each direction as crews begin a 1.26-mile highway improvement project.

Work is slated to begin Monday. The $2.31 million project on Coulter (U.S. Highway 14-A) includes removing medians and installing new roadway lighting from Fair Street to Panther Boulevard (Road 8), according to WYDOT.

“New roadway lighting will be placed on the canal bank on the south side of the roadway,” said Wyoming Department of Transportation resident engineer Todd Frost of Cody.

The project also includes reconstruction of the intersection of First and Evarts streets (near McDonald’s), along with a new asphalt overlay from Clark Street to Homesteader Park.

Americans with Disabilities Act sidewalk improvements will be completed throughout the project, including replacing broken curb and gutter, double gutter and sidewalk, Frost said.

The prime contractor, Century Companies, Inc. of Lewistown, Montana, is scheduled to start work Monday from Fair Street to Clark Street on the median removal and ADA upgrades. Frost said lighting may also start within the project limits.

This first part of the project is currently scheduled to be completed by the middle of June, WYDOT said.

Single-way traffic in each direction could remain 24 hours a day, seven days a week, depending on the work being done. Normal working hours will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Any work on Saturdays will be scheduled as make-up days due to delays caused by inclement weather. 

The contractor is scheduled to start work from Clark Street to Homesteader Park after mid-June on median removal, ADA upgrades including replacement of broken curb and gutter double, and sidewalk, and asphalt milling and the pavement overlay.

All work, except seeding, should be complete by the end of August, Frost said.

Work will shut down July 1 through July 5 and July 21 through July 23 for local holiday celebrations.

Century Companies’ contract with WYDOT calls for grading, milling asphalt plant mix, placing crushed base and asphalt pavement surfacing, placing asphalt plant mix wearing course, concrete pavement, electrical, and other work on 1.26 miles of Coulter Avenue.

Contract completion date is Oct. 31, 2017.