Sources close to the San Louis Obispo Sheriff's Department say the long-awaited women's jail expansion project is finally underway.

The plan has been talked about for more than a decade, according to officials, and now that it's finally broken ground the added space should help reduce the facility's overcrowding problem.

The expanded facility will include a 46,000 square foot jail and more than 75 percent of that space will be allocated for housing.  Blueprints show it will add 198 beds and will have space to provide educational and counseling programs.

Eight thousand square feet will be allocated for medical care facilities that will be used to treat both male and female inmates.

Project managers also point out the facility will include a brand new security system.   If all goes as planned, they said, construction should be complete during late 2016.

Covering costs

The county has been looking at an expansion for quite some time now, according to records, but elected officials have been worried about how to pay for it.

Then, in 2008, the county received $25 million in state grant funding, which covers about 75 percent of the expansion's cost.  The remaining $700,000 is coming from the general fund, they said.

San Louis Obispo County Sheriff's Department said they have hooked up time-lapse cameras all over the construction site to capture the progress during each stage of the construction.  Once the jail is complete, that video will be available on their website.