The signs in downtown Summerville diverting commercial traffic off Highway 48 will be in place a few more weeks, but work has started on repairing Highway 117 between Mentone and Valley Head, Alabama.

The Alabama Department of Transportation announces work is now underway on an project to repair damages from a landslide on the side of Lookout Mountain that shut down Highway 117.

Wright Brothers Construction is the contractor on the $1,369,500 project to excavate a 300-foot-long section of the mountainside highway and construct a rock buttress.  Loose material will be removed and replaced with a more stable rock fill.

The section of highway has been closed to traffic since early April; ALDOT anticipates re-opening the road in early June, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

After that road re-opens to traffic – a second phase of work is scheduled to take place which is estimated to take about 45 days, requiring single-lane closures from time to time.