RALEIGH - Work started last week on a project, funded with federal stimulus dollars, to repave a bumpy, potholed stretch of Wade Avenue inside the Beltline.

All lanes will stay open during weekday rush hours, 6-9 a.m. and 4-7 p.m., the state Department of Transportation says.

But at other times, some lanes will be closed, and traffic will be slowed.

A $1.3 million contract with Rea Contracting of Charlotte schedules the 2.5-mile job in two phases. The stretch from Faircloth Road to Oberlin Road is to be finished by Dec. 26.

Work will resume in March to finish repaving Wade from Oberlin to Capital Boulevard by June.

The project includes repairs to the ramps linking Wade to Glenwood Avenue and Capital Boulevard.

DOT also awarded a $1.2 million contract this summer to C.C. Mangum Co. of Raleigh for repaving a deteriorated section of Glenwood Avenue inside the Beltline. That job now is scheduled to start in March.