BAKER — Crews broke ground on the Groom Road Corridor Improvement Project in Baker on Tuesday morning.

Officials said the project will create dedicated turn lanes and eight-foot-wide "shared use" paths along the road, as well as several drainage improvements.

"Everything is on Groom Road right now," Mayor Darnell Waites said. "All the schools are here. Helix is here. We built that brand new fire station some years back, Mayor Rideau did. We're moving the rest of City Hall there, the police station. We're going to rebuild in that area, and so this is a place where most of the people live. This is a place that we want kids walking to school, riding their bikes. It's just going to be a great place to live here real soon."

Phase one of the project is expected to be done by early 2027, officials said.