Long-awaited construction on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is now underway in Kamloops.

The Crown corporation has workers set up along the pipeline right-of-way in Kenna Cartwright Park and near the Kamloops Airport.

This month, Trans Mountain will also start drilling under the Thompson River near the airport as part of the project.

Trans Mountain is giving the city a one-time payout of $700,000, as a Mutual Benefit Agreement. It also spent $170,000 to build a new dog park in Brocklehurst earlier this year, because the Ord Road dog park had to be closed for its work.

Spokesperson Kate Stebbing mentioned the MBA agreements while speaking to Kamloops council in March of 2019. The corporation says it is sharing more than $400 million with communities along the pipeline route in B.C. and Alberta.

“In spite of all the economic activity and the tax benefits and the jobs and the business opportunities, we’re going to make a bit of a mess for a while. And so this is just a bit of a recognition to say, here’s something that we can do to help compensate for that. And then we’re working with each local government to determine how those funds are meant to be spent,” Stebbing said at the time.

Trans Mountain expects to bring at least 700 temporary jobs to Kamloops, with construction going on from now until the spring of 2022.

The Canada Energy Regulator says Trans Mountain has had to meet 156 conditions before starting construction.