Starting Monday, a section of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard will be shut down for most of December.
Kinston Public Services will be working on sewer lines under the major thoroughfare on the intersection of MLK and Blount Street, which will force motorists to take detours.
KPS Water Resource Manager Brian Lucas said there will be alternative routes set up for traffic.
“There will be detours set up between MLK and Vernon (Avenue) and one at MLK and King (Street),” Lucas said. “The only part of the intersection closed is the intersection, but local traffic can still pass through from Vernon to Blount or King to Blount.”
Lucas said the project will help alleviate flooding on the boulevard and adjoining neighborhoods.
“The route will be closed for approximately three weeks while we try to make things better for the citizens here,” Lucas said.
N.C. Department of Transportation district engineer Johnny Metcalf said the contractor needed to have the project taken care of soon.
“We’ll provide traffic control for project, but this is a project required by the city of Kinston,” Metcalf said. “The timing of the contractor had required him to work on it this time of year. We talked about this being the best time for it.”
Kinston mayor B.J. Murphy said the repair of the sewer lines is necessary, but the City of Kinston tried to keep at least one lane open for traffic on the boulevard.
“Our staff tried to get only one direction of MLK closed at a time, but it wasn’t feasible, so we needed to have a temporary closure to expedite this project.”
Signs around the construction area state the street will reopen Dec. 20.
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.