Ventura Village residents, brace yourselves for a bit of inconvenience as infrastructure upgrades make their way to your streets. Michels Corporation, working on behalf of CenterPoint Energy, is busy replacing an old natural gas main under the north sidewalk of 24th Street E. between 12th Avenue S. and 10th Avenue S. The project is expected to wrap up this section by the end of the month, according to recent updates.

Prepare for parking headaches as restrictions apply on both sides of the street, and with the north sidewalk being no-go zone, pedestrians have only the south sidewalk at their disposal. The crews are taking a breather for the Memorial Day weekend, downing tools on May 24 and May 27, before gearing up to tackle the stretch between 10th Avenue S. and Chicago Avenue starting June 3. Work could spill over to June 1, so mark your calendars if you're in the neighborhood.

Those in the vicinity can expect the usual drudgery that comes with construction—the throaty growl of machines, the snarl of traffic brought to a standstill, and the dance of neon-vested workers weaving a new layer of the city's guts underfoot. In the face of such disruption, a little patience goes a long way, and the project handlers are banking on just that from the public.

For those fed up with anecdotal updates from the sidewalk grapevine, CenterPoint Energy has set up a direct line of communication for your burning queries. Toss your questions over to Hannah Gullickson, the Communication Specialist at CenterPoint Energy, at 612-321-5546 or pump out an email to [email protected]. If you’re more digitally inclined, their project’s web page is flush with details and regular progress reports.