The long-planned reconstruction of a half-mile stretch of Beach Road in Vineyard Haven is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced.

Running from Five Corners to the start of the bike path at Winds Up, the $5.2 million project has been years in the making and aims to improve the main artery running along a busy stretch of coastal road toward the Marthas Vineyard Hospital.

MassDOT is performing the road work, scheduled to take place between Labor Day and Memorial Day for the next three years.

The reconstruction project will include widening and adding sidewalks, relocating utility poles that currently block pedestrians and adding a separated path to take cyclists and other users between Winds Up and Tisbury Marketplace.

From the marketplace to Five Corners there will be sidewalks only, said Bill Veno, a senior planner at the Marthas Vineyard Commission who worked with the state and Tisbury to design the plan.

There was never any intent to run the shared use path all the way to Five Corners, Mr. Veno said, speaking to the Gazette by phone Monday.

Under the new layout, a network of planned and existing town paths will allow inbound cyclists to reach downtown Vineyard Haven and the ferry terminal without sharing Beach Road, by following a route from the marketplace to Cromwell Lane, Mr. Veno said.

The plan is part of the commissions long-term goal of linking and extending the Islands network of shared-use paths for cyclists, walkers and joggers, Mr. Veno said.

The next project is scheduled to [go out to] bid this fall, and thats to continue the shared-use path from the drawbridge to the end of County Road, and then the next phase is on to Oak Bluffs, Mr. Veno said.

Like a lot of planning, its been a long time coming, but all the pieces are coming together.

Finalized by the state in 2018, the Beach Road project originally was slated to be finished by 2021. The new completion date is 2023, according to an announcement from Mass DOT that went out from Tisbury police chief Mark Saloio late last week.

The announcement includes a detailed schedule of road detours that will be in effect once construction begins.

From 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, depending on the weather, motorists can expect delays, temporary lane closures and detours, the announcement said. A one-way westbound detour will be used, as needed, to facilitate travel to and from the ferry terminal.

Emergency vehicle access will not be restricted.

The westbound detour will begin on Beach Road in Oak Bluffs and will continue as follows:

Beach Road to Eastville Ave to County Road;

County Road to Barnes Road;

Barnes Road to Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road;

Edgartown-Vineyard Haven Road to State Road.

For additional information from MassDOT, motorists can dial 511 or visit the mass511.com website for real-time updates. The department also has a mobile app and a Twitter account, @MassDOT.

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Beach Road Reconstruction Work Set to Begin Sept. 8 - The Vineyard Gazette - Martha's Vineyard News