UTICA — Work to replace bridge joints and make other repairs to four structures that carry traffic along Routes 5, 8 and 12 over French Road and the New York Susquehanna and Western Railway is getting under way with the arrival of spring.

State Department of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez announced the start of work on the $5.6 million project to rehabilitate bridges along the vital North-South Arterial in the city of Utica on Thursday.

The work is designed to enhance safety and improve travel along this key corridor for motorists looking to reach destinations in the Utica area or continue on to destinations in the Southern Tier, Adirondacks, or connect to the Thruway.

“The North-South Arterial is one of the Mohawk Valley’s most important roadways and the work we are undertaking now will help ensure that it remains open and accessible for many years to come,” Dominguez said. “The rehabilitation of these bridges will help create a more resilient transportation network that will keep people and goods on the move and strengthen the ties that bind all communities of New York State together.”

In addition to the replacement of bridge joints, the project will include repairs to the concrete substructures and medians. New lighting will be added underneath the bridge above French Road and sidewalks along French Road will be upgraded. Work is expected to be complete by November 30 of this year.

Motorists should expect traffic along the North-South Arterial in the vicinity of the project to be reduced to a single lane in each direction intermittingly as preliminary work is completed in April and continuously as full construction gets started in May. Additionally, the on ramps from French Road to the Arterial will be closed in both directions and traffic detoured from French Road to Burstone Road, to State Route 12.

Motorists are urged to slow down and drive responsibly in work zones. Fines are doubled for speeding in a work zone. Convictions of two or more speeding violations in a work zone could result in the suspension of an individual’s driver license.