Closing off lanes for less than a block is normally a manageable traffic problem. But the problem is trickier when that street is Las Vegas Boulevard.

That's what resort corridor commuters will have to contend with next week, when a short stretch of the southbound Strip in front of the Bellagio will have lane reductions to accommodate sewer work.

Two lanes of the Strip's southbound side will be closed from Sunday through at least March 31 to allow the work by the Clark County Water Reclamation District, prompted by the discovery of a damaged underground sewer pipeline.

"Anytime you take two lanes down on a major thoroughfare like that, that's a scenic byway on top of that, it's always a concern," Bobby Shelton, a spokesman with the county's public works department, which is not performing the sewer work but oversees the road there, said Monday.

That approximate section of the Strip carried nearly 80,000 cars and trucks each day in 2003, according to state statistics.

"It's one of those things that has to be done," Shelton said. "We'd ask people to give themselves extra travel time if they have to go in that particular area."

The affected Strip area will be from Flamingo Road to Bellagio Drive, the latter of which links to the hotel's main entrance. Traffic will still be able to turn right onto the drive from the Strip.

Also closed during that time will be one of three left-turn lanes from the northbound Strip to Bellagio Drive. The rest of the northbound side will remain open.

The damaged sewer line was discovered during video surveillance of sewer lines in the central and eastern valley, as part of ongoing sewer replacement work under various resort corridor roads and other major traffic arteries in recent months.

That work has snared traffic on a number of busy streets at times, including Desert Inn Road and Nellis Boulevard, among others.

Engineers plan to abandon the broken stretch of sewer line and divert sewer flows to a larger pipeline in the same area.

"That is going to prevent future issues with the sewer lines in that area," Sam Scire, engineering manager with the reclamation district, said in a prepared statement.

Drivers are also asked to find alternate routes, if possible. These would include Frank Sinatra Drive, which runs north-south behind the Bellagio, between the Strip and Interstate 15.

Drivers needing to get south of the Bellagio from I-15 can avoid exiting at Flamingo and instead exit at Tropicana Avenue. And Bellagio visitors can avoid the affected stretch of road by using the valet parking area on the building's north side, off Flamingo.