Decatur Public Works started work Wednesday on a city parking lot off Second Avenue Southeast to get it ready for increased traffic downtown.

The city leases the lot located south of Bank Independent at East Moulton Street, but the lot hasn't been safe to use due to settling problems, said City Engineer Mark Petersohn.

"It had material from old buildings not properly removed when demolished several decades ago which was settling excessively," Petersohn said.

This week, Public Works will remove the leftover material mixed with bricks, level the ground and add gravel on top to allow vehicles to park, he said.

"Having cars run on it will tighten the gravel up, and then this summer we'll probably come back and put down asphalt," Petersohn said.