SANDPOINT — As Lost in the '50s comes to a close, so will Cedar Street.

"We will be under construction for the block beginning at Second and Cedar, to Third and Cedar starting Monday," said City Administrator Jennifer Stapleton during Wednesday's City Council meeting.

The construction is the first phase of the city's downtown revitalization project, which will give Cedar Street, between Second and Fifth avenues, with a complete makeover. The work will be done in one-block sections over the course of the summer, with each block taking about a month to complete.

Crews will be removing and replacing all elements of the street from storefront to storefront. These elements include the street and sidewalks, replacing them with wider sidewalks and bulbouts in the intersections, and adding new trees, bike racks, benches, trash receptacles, lighting and storm gardens. With the storm gardens, seating walls will be added near the bulbouts on each corner.

When work begins Monday, the block between Second and Third avenues will be closed to traffic. It will be opened up to traffic when crews move on to the next section, from Third to Fourth avenue, in late June. As each block is completed and opened back up to traffic, the street will be gravel until the end of the construction period, and all three blocks will be paved at once.

Signage will be installed to direct long vehicles, such as boat trailers and RVs, to take Church Street. Tractor-trailers, other than local deliveries, traveling Highway 95 will be directed to the north exit.

While the project requires the complete removal and replacement of the roadway and all sidewalks, pedestrian access to businesses will be maintained throughout the majority of the construction, said Randy McDougall with Earthworks Northwest, the contractor for the project, during a public meeting in April. There will be some short periods of time, however, when the storefronts will be inaccessible as the sidewalks are replaced.

Sandpoint Public Works Director Amanda Wilson said the goal is to pave Cedar Street before Labor Day weekend, with a few finishing touches of the project going in after.

In addition to the work on Cedar, the sewer replacement along First Avenue will continue in August after the conclusion of Festival at Sandpoint. The sewer project began last year, running from just south of Lake Street to north of Church Street. Beginning from where crews left off, this year's construction will extend up First, rounding the corner on Cedar and ending at Second Avenue. Traffic will be detoured during the construction, which is expected to conclude in November.

For information and project details, visit sandpointstreets.com.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.