Work on River Falls Street will begin today, several weeks earlier than previously planned.

Mayor Earl Johnson said the street will be closed from Church Street to Jackson Honda, including the intersection of Crescent Street, for a couple of days.

The Gitty-Up-N-Go located on the corner can be accessed from Church Street, and Jackson Honda also may be accessed from the parking lot of the convenience store on the back side.

“These are the only two businesses that will be affected for the first few days,” Johnson said.

The contractor, Wiregrass Construction, finished another project sooner than expected, which means this one is being started sooner, Johnson said.

Initially, the contractor will mill the asphalt down to the original concrete structure underneath, he said, to do utility work. He’ll start on the right-hand side of the street, then come back to the other side. While water service may be intermittently interrupted as lines are changed, no long outages are expected.

Andalusia Police Chief Wilbur Williams asked that motorists pay close attention to workmen and signage while traveling in the area, and if possible, find an alternate route around the construction zone, he said.

“This is going to be a big effort by everyone involved,” Williams said. “We want to make sure motorists pay attention to the flagmen and warning devices in place. In fact, this would be a good time to break habits and seek out a new way to travel around the area.

“We’re going to do our best to minimize the interference for local businesses,” he said. “If you need to access that area, use Stewart Street or another alternate route,” he said.

As the project progresses, other portions of the street will be closed, Williams said.

“There might be some days where traffic is down to one-lane or we have to close it again all together,” he said. “We’ll just have to see.”

The project will encompass new storm drainage, water and sewer, curb and gutters, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping. It is being funded by the Alabama Department of Transportation and the City of Andalusia.