Lambert’s Cove Road in Tisbury will remain closed for longer than projected, after plans for a temporary repair to a collapsed culvert were scrapped in favor of replacing the pipe entirely.

“We are going from a repair to a full, complete project,” town public works director Kirk Metell told the Gazette Monday afternoon.

“We’re replacing the pipe from headwall to headwall. It didn’t make sense to connect a brand new pipe to the old clay pipe,” Mr. Metell said.

“It’s going to be a complete new project, all the way across.”

Replacing the aged culvert, which carries Smith Brook beneath the roadway, was already on the town’s project list when sinkholes and a washout were discovered there during heavy rains Dec. 10.

The road has been closed to traffic since Dec. 15, with one lane open for emergency vehicles and residents since Dec. 20.

Starting Dec. 19, contractor Luciano’s Excavation Inc. of Taunton has been pumping groundwater into the brook in order to reach the submerged culvert.

The Vineyard Open Land Foundation, which owns the Cranberry Acres property adjacent to Lambert’s Cove Road, has given permission for the pump to operate on its land, where one of the culvert headwalls is located about 50 feet south of the road.

The contractors have been easy to work with, said foundation chairman Eric Peters.

“They’ve been very responsive and helpful,” Mr. Peters said.

Town officials had projected opening a repaired roadway shortly after New Year’s Day, but Mr. Metell said Monday that the closure will extend until the culvert and headwalls replacement project is completed.

“It makes sense for safety to do it all in one shot,” he said.