A water main project along Bridge Road will have one lane in each direction closed for at least two and a half months after it begins on July 14.

The city’s Department of Public Utilities needs to install about 6,600 linear feet of a new 24-inch water main in the median of Bridge Road, from the intersection of Lee Farm Lane to the southern end of the Mills Godwin Bridge, Director Al Moor said.

“This sort of fills in a gap where we only have a smaller 12-inch main,” Moor said. “It allows us to better feed the northern end for better flow, and it eliminates the need to build additional storage at Northgate Commerce Park at our storage tank.”

The project also will allow the city to take the storage tank off Interstate 664 out of service temporarily to rehabilitate and repaint it.

But the water service improvements will come at a cost to motorists until at least the beginning of October.

The inside lanes of Bridge Road in both directions will be closed around the clock Monday through Friday, from July 14 through Oct. 1, Moor said. Most of the work is set from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays.

The intersections at Lee Farm Lane, Bennetts Pasture Road and Bennetts Creek Landing will remain open, except when the pipes are being installed across them. The intersection work will be done at night, Moor said. Other left turn lanes on Bridge Road also will remain open.

“This will allow us to finish the project a lot sooner than we anticipated,” Moor said. “By doing it this way, the contractor believes he can complete the work by October, and we can shorten the period of time of inconvenience.”

The entire road will be open on weekends and holidays, Moor said. Any weather events or regional needs — for example, if another major north-south route has to be closed — would be evaluated, and the road would be opened if necessary.

Moor said southbound traffic coming off the Mills Godwin Bridge, which has only one lane in each direction, would simply continue in its one-lane pattern. Northbound traffic would have only one lane from Lee Farm Lane until after it crosses the bridge.

The public is requested to be alert and use caution through the work zone, a city press release stated.