McMinnville Public Works is asking motorists to avoid South Chancery Street between Colville Street and Bridge Street between 8:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. this Monday thru Friday.
"We are going to block off the southbound lane in order to replace the sidewalk," said McMin-nville Public Works assistant director Brad Hennessee. "It’s a safety issue for the crew as they work on the sidewalk."
Specific hours were chosen to avoid the heaviest traffic of the day.
"We chose 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. because we want to avoid school traffic," said Hennessee. "We had to remove the downed tree at the Blue Building. While there, we counted how many cars went by. It wasn’t all that many."
Those who do not avoid the area will be detoured around via South High and Depot streets. Traffic control attendants will be in position at the Colville Street and South Chancery intersection and Bridge Street and South Chancery intersection to facilitate traffic into and out of affected businesses within the area.
One exception will be made to the detour requirement during the designated hours.
"We will allow large trucks to pass through the construction zone," said Hennessee. "Large trucks will not be able to maneuver the turns through the detours. While at the Blue Building, we only saw a couple large trucks go through. We don’t believe those will pose much of a problem."
Creating the need to replace the sidewalk is the condition of it, which has been in poor condition and the city has received numerous requests over the years to fix it.
A crew from McMinnville Public Works Department began prepping for the work Thursday by separating the existing sidewalk from the pavement in order to prevent damaging the street when the sidewalk is removed.
