Work on a project to breathe new life into a portion of Upland Avenue in southwest Lubbock officially kicked off Thursday morning.

City of Lubbock and Texas Department of Transportation officials broke ground on a $19 million expansion of Upland Avenue from 66th Street to 88th Street Thursday in front of Celebration Christian Center. The project will widen Upland from its current two asphalt lanes to five concrete lanes, aiming to decrease congestion on the busy southwest-Lubbock thoroughfare.

“We need it. We’re hitting a major growth spurt, and the city, the county and TxDOT are all working together in our community to respond to traffic demand where we can to try and get ahead of the need,” Mayor Tray Payne said in his remarks.

Councilwoman Jennifer Wilson, who represents District 5 including this stretch of road, echoed Payne’s statements.

“This area’s probably doubled or even tripled in traffic over the last five years,” Wilson said. “The traffic coming down Upland is just tremendous.”

Wilson said she expects the project to be complete by August 2025, barring delays. She asked for patience from people who live and work in the area.

“There’s almost no way to block off those roads without moving traffic elsewhere,” Wilson said. “So we’ll build those new lanes first and divert traffic to the west, then we’ll start building on the east side and connect it.”

She said Lubbockites can also expect to see progress on other portions of Upland Avenue in the future.

“This is just the beginning for Upland,” she said. “We approved multiple sections on our bond package as well, so we will be seeing the widening of Upland hopefully all the way from the northern city limits to the southern city limits.”

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: City of Lubbock breaks ground on Upland Avenue widening project