Streetscaping projects affecting two major thoroughfares in Newark will begin next Monday and will continue until May 2013, city officials announced.

The projects will take place on Clinton Avenue, between Osborne Terrace and Hunterdon Street, and South Orange Avenue, between Dover Street and Stuyvesant Avenue. Work hours will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and motorists should allow extra time when traveling in the area due to lane closures.

The renovations are part of a $4.1 million citywide streetscaping project funded by Urban Enterprise Zone Trust Funds. Planters and decorate lighting will be installed along the two arteries as well as decorative corner treatments, new curb bump-outs and new traffic signals. Similar projects are planned for this summer on Lower Broadway/Bloomfield Avenue and Mt. Prospect Avenue.

"Our streetscaping projects have already created safer and more attractive environments for residents and motorists alike on Broad Street and Ferry Street," said Mayor Booker in a statement. "Now we are expanding this important program to other major arteries in our city, which will strengthen these neighborhoods and have a dramatic and positive impact on their quality of life."

– Staff reports