WATERBURY, Conn. (AP) A nearly $300 million project widening Interstate 84 in Waterbury is about to begin.

The Republican-American reports rebuilding the 2.7-mile stretch of highway that Governor Dannel Malloy has called one of the most infamous bottlenecks in Connecticut will begin Monday.

The state Department of Transportation's contract requires the project to be complete by June 25, 2020.

Construction and utility work and other work will cost $298 million, with a little less than half paid by the state and the rest by the federal government.

The highway will be widened to three lanes from two in each direction, exits will be reconfigured, 12-foot-wide shoulders will be added and an access road will be built.

The work includes replacing nine bridges, six culverts and 20 retaining walls. Two waterways must be realigned.