Residents along Park Drive near Lexington High School are navigating lane restrictions, one-way traffic and sidewalk closures as utility work tied to the $650 million school building project ramps up.

The work began the week of Aug. 10 and is bringing alternating one-way traffic managed by police detail, additional parking restrictions along the active work zone, and temporary sidewalk closures at the trench location, according to the official LHS project construction update posted Thursday, Aug. 13. The update was authored by Jacob Greco.

Flaggers are directing pedestrians around the closed sidewalk sections on Park Drive. The utility trenching is generating saw-cutting, excavation and compaction noise during permitted work hours, though the update does not specify what those hours are.

Abutting property owners will receive advance notice of any planned service interruptions, the update states.

The parking squeeze extends beyond Park Drive. Spaces along Worthen Road in front of the construction site have been removed, and the sidewalk there also has temporary interruptions. The Park Drive and Clarke Street Playground lot remains fenced off as a staging area for the skatepark relocation. Construction trucks continue moving to and from the site.

The traffic restrictions add to measures the Select Board approved when members voted 5-0 on July 6 to ban parking on portions of Parker Street from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. on weekdays. Select Board Vice Chair Pato said at the board's July 6 meeting that neighbors had raised concerns "regarding speeding and too much parking, but also that parking on both sides of the street narrows the throughway, potentially leading to issues with emergency vehicles being able to pass."

Meanwhile, the broader LHS rebuild remains paused by a separate regulatory challenge. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection accepted a wetlands appeal filed by a ten-citizen group on Aug. 7, and a site visit is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 27 at 10:30 a.m. Jim Williams, who represents the appellants, wrote in a letter published Aug. 13 in the Lexington Observer that no construction work beyond fencing has been done on the main project pending a final MassDEP order. The official project update does not address how the Park Drive utility work relates to the wetlands-related halt on broader construction.

The update reported no changes to the overall project schedule. Residents can track weekly updates at lhsproject.lexingtonma.org.