CHESAPEAKE — Motorists will have some traffic slowdowns for the next few months as a long-sought drainage project on Rockwood Avenue starts soon.

“They will start anytime in the next week or so,” said Kathleen Fuller, public information officer for District 9, Ohio Department of Transportation. “They will be reconstructing the entire drainage system along State Route 7.”

Chronic flooding prompted the project to replace more than 41 sites for culverts or pipes, 14 catch basins and 11 manholes from Symmes Creek bridge to the village limits, just below the Chesapeake Community Center, according to Fuller.

“When there are torrential rains there are drains that plug up and flood the streets,” Chesapeake Village Mayor Dick Gilpin said. “This project will cost $500,000. The village could never come up with that kind of money.”

Fields Excavating of Kitts Hill got the contract for the job that will cost $490,179.

“This is a really antiquated system there,” Fuller said. “It wasn’t just simply one pipe. It was multiple locations.”

Traffic will be maintained, but may go down to one lane at certain times with flaggers.

The project is expected to be finished by the end of November.