Vehicles pass through the intersection of Harvard Road, left to right, and Kasold Drive, pictured Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016.

Reconstruction of a nine-block stretch of Kasold Drive begins Friday, and will affect traffic flow on the roadway for at least the next 10 months.

The $5.9 million reconstruction of Kasold Drive, from Sixth Street to Bob Billings Parkway, calls for a new traffic signal, new concrete pavement, bike lanes, sidewalks, storm sewers and waterlines, according to a news release from the city. The project will be done in phases and will continue through the end of 2018.

Project engineer Aaron Gaspers, of CFS Engineers, said the project will begin with the reconstruction of the intersection of Kasold Drive and Bob Billings Parkway. Beginning Friday, Gaspers said the intersection will be reduced to one lane on both Kasold and Bob Billings.

Later on in the project, construction work will require lane closures throughout the nine-block section of Kasold Drive being reconstructed. Gaspers said once crews start rebuilding the east side of Kasold toward the end of March, traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction.

The reconstruction of Kasold Drive is one of the bigger street projects in recent years, and its design was the subject of ample public debate.

In September 2016, the City Commission decided on a 3-2 vote to approve a traditional street reconstruction design for the roadway rather than the “road diet” design recommended by city staff for safety reasons. The traditional street reconstruction will maintain four lanes and add a traffic signal at the intersection with Harvard Road, rather than reduce the section of Kasold to one lane in each direction and add a roundabout at Harvard.

Details for the Kasold Drive reconstruction project are as follows:

• Two 11-foot-wide lanes in each direction

• Median with turn lanes

• 5-foot-wide bike lanes

• 8-foot-wide multiuse path and 6-foot-wide sidewalk

• Traffic signal at the intersection with Harvard Road

The Kasold Drive project’s full construction schedule is available on the project’s website.