Excavators prepared a trench for the placement of utility lines in the area near the National Guard Armory in Marshall on Thursday afternoon. Utility and grading work are both going on in the area where a roundabout will be built.

MARSHALL — While paving work is progressing in the intersection of West College Drive and Saratoga Street, the intersection will likely not be open to traffic when school starts in Marshall next week. Representatives of R and G Construction said they plan to stay in communication with Marshall Public Schools, and to have a path for children to cross the intersection on foot.

The Saratoga intersection was one of the topics discussed at a construction update meeting Thursday. The intersection closed to vehicle traffic last week, so that subcontractors could begin work to pave the intersection with concrete. Scott Mathiowetz, of R and G Construction, said paving work in the intersection is ongoing, and contractors hoped to get the ends of the intersection tied in to the rest of the street in the next week or two.

However, the progress of the work could once again be affected by the weather. “Next week, it looks like it’s not great,” Mathiowetz said of the forecast.

Class starts Wednesday for students at Southview Elementary and Marshall Middle School. Erika Coudron, of R and G, said she planned to be present at the Saratoga/West College intersection to help kids get adjusted to the intersection as they walk to and from their first day of school. Coudron and Mathiowetz said they planned to mark off a path where children going to school can cross the intersection. They would also try to have a hard surface for that path, they said.

Reconstruction work is also ongoing on part of West College Drive near the National Guard Armory. In addition to rebuilding utility lines and the roadway, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is building a roundabout at the three-way intersection near the Armory.

At Thursday’s update meeting, Mathiowetz said construction crews were getting close to finishing work installing water and sewer pipes in that portion of the project. Grading work was also going on in the area. Hopefully, the next phase of concrete paving in the project could start next week, he said.

Work on the next segment of College Drive reconstruction, which runs from Legion Field to Fourth Street, is planned to begin this fall. That segment will be the fourth and final stage of construction planned for this year. Mathiowetz said there would be a slight delay between the end of the current construction stage and the fourth stage.