The Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) has put its final stamp of approval on engineering plans for South Three Notch Street, and bids for the $8 million project will be opened at the end of July.

Mark Pugh, president of CDG Engineering, said Friday morning that plans for the project, which will take approximately a year to complete, got the go-ahead this week. The final plans were delivered to ALDOT in March.

Pugh said work will likely begin in August or September.

Gov. Robert Bentley awarded the City of Andalusia an $8.6 million ATRIP grant for refurbishing South Three Notch in 2013. ATRIP projects are unlike previous grant projects ALDOT has administered in that the state will let and award bids, and the city will reimburse the state for its part of the matching grant.

The project will includes new sanitary sewerage, storm water draining and decorative lighting in the residential area of South Three Notch.

“In the commercial area, the new project will be built on top of the old street in a way that is a little more creative than we’ve done on projects in the past,” Pugh said in March. “There will be new curb and gutter, asphalt, and sidewalks next to hospital.”

While portions of the commercial area currently have four narrow lanes, the new design calls for two wider lanes with a center turning lane.

City utility crews have already begun doing the pieces of the construction that is to be done locally.