A plan to reduce sewer overflows in the Back Cove area that gets underway Monday means Bedford Street will be closed to traffic for three weeks, according to city officials.

The $7.6 million project includes putting in a new storm drains and sewers in several parts of the Back Cove neighborhood and is scheduled to be completed in stages between now and June 2019. In the Bedford Street area, crews will be working 24 hours a day on underground utility work and then repaving the road; the city wants to reopen the street to two-way traffic before the fall semester begins at the University of Southern Maine on Sept. 4.

Bedford Street will be closed to all inbound traffic from Deering Avenue to Forest Avenue until Aug. 31. Outbound access from Forest Avenue to Brighton Avenue is already closed and will remain closed until Aug. 31.