MYRTLE BEACH — The first year of a two-year project to move all utilities underground on Third Avenue South from Ocean Boulevard to Kings Highway is expected to be complete by the end of March, when contractors will put down a “binder” – or bottom surface of asphalt – to allow the street to reopen.

The stretch of road has been closed since September, said city of Myrtle Beach engineer Patrick Sadek. Construction would pick up again this September to finish the work.

Sadek said workers were in the process of installing storm drainage piping and repairing water and sewer lines as needed. Curbs and gutters also will installed before they reopen the street.

During the off season, workers will relocate any gas lines that need to be moved and in the fall the utility companies will energize the lines, Sadek said.

“The new conduits are already underground but [utility companies] will not make connections until the fall,” he said.

The last thing that will be done is streetscape and resurfacing the street.

Sadek said the project is slated to be complete, with the street reopening, before Easter 2014.

Nighttime lane closures on U.S. 17

Work began Monday on the installation of a 36-inch sewer force main on U.S. 17, from 79th Avenue North to the southern edge of Restaurant Row.

Construction will take place at night, from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays.

“It’s a four-month contract,” city spokesman Mark Kruea said. “Hopefully they’ll be done before the end of May.”

There will be inside lane closures during the allotted hours on U.S. 17 Bypass.

“We require the contractor to do the work at night so we don’t impact traffic any more than we have to,” Kruea said.

Contractors will install a 36-inch diameter sewer line in the median of U.S. 17, replacing a 30-year-old, 30-inch sewer line that runs along the highway’s western right-of-way, according to a press release from the city.

Contact MAYA T. PRABHU at 444-1722 or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_MPrabhu.