Fairmont Street will be closed between Loop 281 and Avenue B for a couple of months beginning Monday.

The road is being closed to replace a deteriorated street culvert and repair the street, said project manager Alton Bradley. The work is expected to be completed in mid-October.

"We became aware of the problem last spring, and this was the soonest we could begin because we had to do engineering studies prior to starting construction," Bradley said.

Drivers are asked to use alternate routes during the construction work, which will be done by Longview Bridge and Road.

"It's a very old, nonstandard culvert," Bradley said. "We're going to replace it with a concrete culvert like we have in most other locations throughout the city."

Pine Tree High School is on Fairmont Street, but not on the section that will be repaired. However, many students approach the school by crossing over or driving along Loop 281 to Fairmont Street.

"The best alternate route for people trying to get from the Loop to Pine Tree High School would probably be to turn on Toler Road and then connect to Fairmont," Bradley said.

Pine Tree Transportation Director Jack Davis said the repairs would require the district to reroute some buses going to the junior high and high school campuses, but it shouldn't be a huge disruption.

"That section of road was closed for a couple of months last spring because a portion of it had washed out, and we had to detour around it, but it wasn't a major issue," Davis said.

The city made temporary repairs to the street in the spring. The ones beginning Monday will be permanent, Bradley said.

For information, call (903) 237-1067.