It takes Sophia Ma five minutes to walk from her apartment to her classes at Shands.
Every day, the medical student crosses the vine-and-barbed-wire-wrapped overpass above Southwest 13th Street, uninhibited by the traffic below.
But her daily routine may soon be interrupted.
Construction has begun on 13th Street between 16th Street and Archer Road in preparation for an overhaul of the overpass.
Construction crews are working to lay utility lines and install new streetlights - repairs that caused lane closures earlier in the week.
The overpass, once part of the Depot Avenue Rail Trail, is now a pedestrian and bicycle path.
Its $1.2 million renovation, part of a larger effort to modify the entire rail trail and create a Depot Avenue Park, is being funded by the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency.
According to plans on the CRA website, the redesigned bridge will have a roof, lined with solar panels, in the shape of a double helix - a nod to the nearby Shands hospitals.
The overpass will be partially made of recycled materials. Crews plan to build stairs on 13th Street to lead pedestrians and cyclists up to the overpass, as well as a plaza and an overlook for pedestrians and trail users.
The CRA plans to install art throughout the plaza, including a large sundial, and to build a rain garden near the overpass to collect storm water runoff.
Thirteenth Street will not experience any lane closures over the weekend, so football gameday traffic will not be affected.
Traffic should be running just as smoothly on the west side of town.
As of Monday, the shoulder of the northbound Interstate 75 exit ramp at Newberry Road has been reopened.
"We got it done just in time for the football game," said Laurie Windham, spokeswoman for the project.
Resurfacing the shoulder and the exit ramp was the first step in the construction project at the Newberry Road exit, scheduled to be completed by next summer.
By that time, the other three exit ramps at Newberry will be resurfaced, and the northbound exit will have two additional turn lanes.Windham said the volume of traffic on Newberry Road and the northbound I-75 exit make the construction project crucial.
There will not be any lane closures in the area from Friday through Monday due to the holiday weekend.
