Construction on Elm Street downtown Columbia forcing closures

The city of Columbia is set to start closing sections of Elm Street for construction on Thursday morning. This will be a part of a year long development project.

Phase one is set to begin Thursday and will close a section of Fifth and Sixth street. Sixth and Elm will be entirely closed while southbound traffic will be able to pass through Fifth and Elm. The first phase is expected to be completed by the end of October.

The closure of Elm will benefit the construction of a new apartment building as well as work on a sanitary sewer line and improvements to the City storm water system.

Near the end of the project, Elm will be completely repaved.

The city urges drivers to try and avoid the area, but if they must travel on Elm to use extreme caution and pay attention.