Work on the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is underway with a small crew in the city, the Kamloops Chamber of Commerce can’t wait to see the rest of the workers get here.

“It’s been very long and drawn out and I think they’re certainly battled through and they’ve delivered on what they said they would so we’re looking forward to it finally coming to fruition and you know it couldn’t have happened at a better time for us to be completely honest with you,” Chamber president Tyson Andrykew said on the NL Morning News.

The work is underway after years of protests and court appeals caused delays. There are about 50 workers that will swell to about 600 in the fall, and Andrykew is looking forward to seeing the peak workforce in Kamloops, as it will benefit hotels, restaurants and other businesses the workers will be shopping at.

“That’s been delayed slightly, it looks kind of more so the end of September, beginning of October which I think for the hotel industry is a very positive thing, that’s when we’re going to need more individuals here as we talked about with the tourism season winding down around then,” he said.

And he remains confident that Trans Mountain is doing things right in the COVID-19 era.

“In talking with some of the people from TMX actually yesterday, they’re doing very frequent testing of their employees and so far so good,” Andrykew said. “So far no concerns, everyone seems to be following the protocol so it’s very good.”

The company 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 due to work on the pipeline.