A project designed to accommodate additional traffic due to the extension of Gemini Place is set to kick off in the coming months.

Delaware County commissioners on Monday approved a contract with George J. Igel & Co. to widen Worthington Road from Powell Road to Africa Road.

The Columbus-based construction company was one of five to bid on the project.

The $5.4 million bid was the lowest, and about 6 percent under cost estimates of the Delaware County Engineer’s Office.

A lane will be added in each direction of the roadway. The project also includes the replacement of the bridge over Alum Creek.

Work is expected to begin in October and last about one year.

With the exception of some short-term closure for utility work, two lanes of traffic are expected to be maintained throughout the project.

“It’s basically one of three projects involving the Gemini Place extension through Polaris Amphitheater,” said Rob Riley, the county’s chief deputy engineer.

The county, in conjunction with the cities of Columbus and Westerville and the Ohio Department of Transportation, will undertake a $18 million extension of Gemini Place through the former site of the Germain Amphitheater, connecting east to Worthington Road.

The county’s share of the project is $4 million.

The road extension will be done in anticipation of the construction of a 350,000 square-foot IKEA store just east of Interstate 71 and north of Gemini Place at the site of the former Germain Amphitheater.

Construction on the IKEA store could begin as early as this year. It will be completed in the fall of 2016.

County officials say the road extension will help to alleviate congestion in the area.

The county expects to begin construction of a third project in the spring, a widening of Powell Road from Bale Kenyon Road to Gemini Place.

The $2 million project is slated to begin in the spring and be finished by October 2016.