A heads up to drivers in Kamloops as work to mill and pave a large portion of Hillside Drive will be starting after the Labour Day long weekend.

Capital Projects Manager, Matt Kachel, says crews are set to begin mobilizing on Tuesday, Sept. 5. They will be working from McGill Road to Hillside Way this year, and then from Hillside Way onto Cannell Drive by the Canadian Tire next year.

“I can tell you that the road would be open to traffic all the way through,” Kachel told Radio NL.

“It might just be restricted one lane or two to get here and there as we do the work but I don’t think we’re going shut one piece all the way down, at least not during the day in peak hours.”

Kachel says work this year is expected to take about a month to complete, with an estimated completion date on Oct. 6, before the Thanksgiving long weekend.

“I believe it will only take a month but its obviously feeding into quite a few highly used areas,” he said, noting work could be delayed by unforeseen circumstances like rain.

“If traffic backups gets ugly, they might go to night work to get it done so its not as disruptive, but for right now, everyone seems to think – and the traffic modelling and everything – says that day work is going to be okay.”

Kachel says people will still be able to access all of the businesses in the area, while the work is underway.

“No one will be stopped or detoured but it just it might be a little bit slow going,” Kachel said. “There are alternate routes that people can take, as long as they’re not going to one of those businesses.”