With nicer, drier weather having been the norm as of late, a number of construction and roadwork projects are underway across New Bedford.

Work has begun on Coggeshall Street, Union Street and on the southern segment of Route 18, among other locations. In his weekly appearance on WBSM, Mayor Jon Mitchell said he understands the construction causes some headaches, but that shouldn't keep people from frequenting local businesses and going about their usual routine.

"They just need to follow the detour signs, that's all," he said. "Those construction sites are inconvenient, but it also marks progress. We are modernizing the city."

Mitchell said last year, workers removed waste water pipes along Coggeshall that were over 100 years old and replaced them, which he said was "an $8 million project that's going to last a long time." This summer, road crews are doing surface work on Coggeshall to compliment the underground work from a year ago.

The mayor also said that upcoming work on County Street will be done in segments moving from south to north, starting at Nelson Street and going just beyond the common over the course of the next three or four years.

"County Street will be to put a whole new surface up and down the roadway, and do lots of street trees, brand new lighting," he said. "It will be easier on traffic, better for pedestrians in the long run, and I think it'll look nice and help enhance home values."

He said the area near the St. Lawrence Church up to the common has seen a lot of work done by the gas company, and that driving over it is "almost like going off-road."

"The gas company is waiting for all the patches to settle, and then under the city's new policy, they have to pave all the way to the center line of the street," he said.

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