STEUBENVILLE — If mother nature cooperates, Phase II of the Lovers Lane-Sunset Boulevard widening project will get under way next week.

City Manager Mike Dolak said they’ll begin with tree removal, probably starting Monday or Tuesday, “then, the week of March 18, you’ll start to see some lane closures.”

Dolak said they’ll be adding right turn lanes on Sunset and the Lovers Lane Connector, and also lengthening the left turn lane on Sunset Boulevard.

Crews will begin by widening the road and doing water line upgrades on the north side of Sunset Boulevard from Starkdale Road to Yale Place. That part of the project is expected to be done by July.

Phase II in its entirety should be done in late November, he added.

“It will improve capacity, efficiency and, most important, safety,” Dolak said, pointing out a safety study was done in 2013. “That’s how the project was generated.”

Shelly & Sands of Rayland won the contract, worth just over $1.8 million. It’s being paid for with more than $1.5 million in federal transportation funds awarded through the Brooke-Hancock-Jefferson Metropolitan Planning Commission and $250,000 in Ohio Public Works grant funds. The balance, almost $60,000, was provided by the city of Steubenville.

Dolak said on average, about 9,000 cars a day cross Lovers Lane Connector, while Sunset Boulevard typically sees about twice that number “so the need is there.”

“It’s needed because it’s at capacity, as well as for the safety upgrade,” he said.

“Capacity is important as well as efficiency, but the most important aspect is the safety improvement.”

Lanes will be reduced while the work is in progress, and Dolak said motorists should be prepared for delays.

“Twenty-thousand cars a day go through that intersection,” he said.

“There will be lane reductions, so we’re asking the public to drive cautiously through the work area,” he added.

Phase I — construction of the Lovers Lane roundabout — was completed in 2017. Dolak said Phase III — improving Loves Lane from Sunset to the roundabout — will go to design “possibly by the end of the year” and be done in 2023 or 2024.