A construction worker moves sand around at the intersection of Saranac Avenue and Main Street in Lake Placid on Tuesday, June 15. (Enterprise photo — Elizabeth Izzo)

LAKE PLACID — Work along Main Street will now extend into July and the first week of August. However, traffic flow will be restored to normal, and a new shuttle loop from the old train station on Station Street to Main Street is expected to start next month to bring construction workers into town and open up parking spaces for visitors.

Mayor Art Devlin on Monday reiterated the village’s plan to allow the Kubricky Construction company to continue work past June, an idea he floated at a meeting of the Lake Placid Business Association earlier this month. The construction company requested the extension.

Under the previous mayor, Craig Randall, the village repeatedly told Main Street business owners that a clause would be built into the construction contract to make sure that construction stopped during July and August, peak months for summer tourism. This pause in construction was something some members of the village’s Main Street Task Force pushed for. The village’s new plan will have construction continue, but in small sections off the street, meaning that although construction crews will continue working the street itself should look relatively normal. All detours will be removed, two-way traffic will be restored, and Hillcrest Avenue will return to normal, according to Devlin.

By allowing the construction company to continue for a few more weeks, Devlin says they may be able to shave off a year of work from the project timeline and complete the upgrade by fall 2022 rather than fall 2023.

The crews will be working on installing a bioretention basin and a new Redi-Rock retaining wall at the lower parking lot across from NBT Bank, temporarily displacing about 20 parking spaces; then installing a bioretention basin near the intersection of Main Street and Olympic Drive, temporarily displacing about 50 spaces in the large municipal lot, according to Devlin. Work will also continue at the Saranac Avenue intersection, displacing seven permit parking spaces.

“Everything really happens between now and the end of July; parts of it will go into the first week of August,” Devlin said. “Really, the only thing that goes into the first five days of August is some work in One Main Street park.”

Devlin says there could be a few new parking spaces added in the NBT lot and along Saranac Avenue as a result of the work.

A new shuttle, operated by Essex County, will start running between the old train station on Station Street to Main Street on July 1, a Thursday, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. to start, according to Devlin. The village is working on removing fencing at the old train station, which they hope will open up upward of 150 to 170 spaces there. By opening up these new spaces, the village hopes to allow construction crews to move their vehicles off of Main Street, opening up parking spaces on the street to visitors, while also replacing spaces that will be displaced by construction work. The village was still working out signage on Monday — Devlin said he would contact the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism about that.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s a good solution, and I just think that the opportunity to possibly shave a year off the construction schedule is too great to pass up,” Devlin said.

Devlin hopes that operating this shuttle now will give some insight into how effective a solution a shuttle would be to address parking displacement during future projects. Village officials have talked about the possibility of building some kind of parking structure in the upper municipal lot across from NBT Bank for years.

“If we’re lucky enough to be able to build a parking garage in the NBT lot, we’re going to be displacing about 150 spots while we’re working,” Devlin said. “This is a great proof of concept, whether it works or not, so that if we do decide to do that we know to run the trolley and it will help. If we’re not able to financially afford a parking garage at NBT, then we’ll have to do something, and maybe the trolley becomes a replacement to the parking garage.”