FLINT, Mich. - In Flint, the Saginaw Street bricks restoration project is in its next development phase.
The city has selected a contractor, and is now sorting out final details before beginning construction.
City Engineer Mark Adas tells Mid-Michigan NOW the project will either start in the next couple months or in the fall.
Adas says if workers start before August, they must complete all construction by the first of the month to not impact any major events, like Back to the Bricks and the Crim Festival of Races.
He then says there won't be any work done until August is complete and then workers can resume.
For those unfamiliar with this project, the city plans to replace the bricks in all five lanes except in the intersections which will be colored stamped concrete to match the bricks.
Altogether, Adas says there are about 750,000 bricks from Court street to just south of the bridge, and roughly 60% of them are reusable.
For the rest that aren't, Adas says the City will buy bricks from other locations.
Once construction begins, Adas says workers will do one block at a time on the $5.8M project, with hopes of completing it within a year.
Adas is aware snow could impact their completion date and says they'll just have to play it by ear.
He also says they're having challenges getting materials.
At the same time workers are replacing the bricks, Adas says Consumers Energy will install plastic pipes with concrete around them underneath the road.
This will help the energy company maintain electrical wires without tearing up the road.
In the meantime, he asks for people to be patient and to not steal any bricks.
Hear how the community is reacting in the clip below: