HANFORD -- Caltrans and the Flatiron Construction Corp. announces will hold a groundbreaking ceremony Thursday to mark the beginning of construction on the State Route 198 Hanford Expressway Project.

The public is invited to the event at 1 p.m. at the former Delta View Elementary School location on State Route 198 between Avenue 1 and Avenue 1 and 1/2.

Caltrans and Flatiron Construction Corporation will begin construction

on the $91.4 million dollar project that officials say will reduce congestion, increase safety and improve the movement of goods on State Route 198 in

the Central Valley between Hanford and Visalia. Funding for the project comes from state and federal dollars, including $44.5 million from Proposition 1B, the $19.9 billion transportation bond of 2006.

The project will convert a 10-mile section of SR-198 from a two-lane

conventional highway to a four-lane expressway between State Route 43 in Hanford in Kings County and State Route 99 near Visalia in Tulare County.