One of the largest portions of the Ironton paving project will finally begin on Tuesday as crews begin the task of repaving seven blocks of Park Avenue.

Crews will begin at the Ninth Street intersection and then work their way towards the downtown area.

Each block will be opened to traffic after the old asphalt is milled. Although the city street sweeper will be used to help control dust at the site, there will still be some present, so vehicles and other items that could be damaged by dust should be kept away from Park Avenue.

An initial layer of asphalt will be installed on the street to smooth out the ride during the work process, but the speed at which this takes place depends on any problems discovered during milling.

City engineer Phil Biggs said delays from the project should be minimal if streets adjoining Park Avenue are used to move east and west, as the work requires closing down portions of the street.

"There is not adequate funding to provide for flagging personnel to control traffic," said Biggs in a written statement. "Every dollar spent on flagging traffic is a dollar that is not available to do actual construction."

Biggs said he has been assured that the first layer of asphalt will be installed by July 18, in time for the Rally on the River.

As always, the engineer's office requires that vehicles be removed from the sections of the streets where milling and paving are taking place.