Commuters can expect delays on Highway 97 between 9:30 a.m. and noon on Tuesday, June 5 while crews move an oil separator with a crane at the Lexington end of the four-laning project. Monica Lamb-Yorski photo

Commuters can expect delays on Highway 97 between 9:30 a.m. and noon on Tuesday, June 5 while crews move an oil separator with a crane at the Lexington end of the four-laning project. Monica Lamb-Yorski photo

Expect driving delays Tuesday with Highway 97 four-laning near Sugar Cane

Crews will be using a crane to lift an oil separator which will cause traffic delays between 9:30 and noon

Drivers should expect up to 30-minute delays in the four-laning construction zone on Highway 97 south of Williams Lake near Sugar Cane on Tuesday, June 5.

In a tweet posted Friday afternoon, the Ministry of Transportation Cariboo District noted between 9:30 a.m. to noon, a lane closure will be in effect and drivers should watch for flagging personnel and signage.

Project manager Earl MacLeod of Cantex-Okanagan Construction Ltd. said crews will be doing a crane lift of the oil separator just north of Lexington Road which will be the cause of the delays.

“We are anticipating only a blockage of about five to seven minutes, but were asked to put in ‘expect up to 30 minutes,'” MacLeod explained. “When we hook up to the box, it will be single-lane alternating, but when we lift the box off the truck we have to shut traffic down because we can’t have them coming by when we lift that heavy piece.”

Crews did a similar move last spring when they worked on the head walls, he added.

Otherwise, the project is moving along in a way that for the most part is not impacting traffic, MacLeod said.

“Things are coming along,” he said.

Read More: 2017 wildfires delay Highway 97 four-laning

Williams Lake Tribune