Drivers heading downtown may want to rethink their routes if they were planning to be in the area of Fourth Avenue, particularly around Wheeler Street.

Work has begun on both the rebuilding of Wheeler Street from Fourth to Sixth Avenue, as well as parts of nearby streets.

Also planned is the repaving of Fourth Avenue from Robert Service Way to Main Street.

P.S. Sidhu is doing the first phase of the Wheeler Street work. It was awarded the $3.7-million contract for the work in June.

The entire Wheeler Street project is expected to take two years, ultimately extending to the end of the street at the escarpment.

It will see water and sewer mains replaced to meet current standards, and the system’s capacity will be expanded.

A water recirculation system will be installed as well for frost protection and to improve efficiency, with street lighting and landscaping set to be improved.

Sidewalks, new asphalt, curbs and gutters will be built on the road as well.

The first phase of the work is set to continue until the end of October.

It will involve the rebuilding of the road to Sixth Avenue, including the portions of Fifth and Sixth avenues and the water main extension to Cook Street through a park at the end of Wheeler Street.

The remainder of the work is expected to happen from May to October 2018. It will see construction work pick up again on Wheeler from Sixth Avenue to the escarpment, along with portions of Seventh and Eighth avenues.

Access to the affected properties is available through alleyways.

Meanwhile, Skookum Asphalt is doing the work on Fourth Avenue, having been awarded the $919,843 contract in June.

“The work will take place from the train tracks at Robert Service Way to Main Street, and includes milling down the road surface 60 mm from curb to curb; application of asphaltic placement; cleanup, permanent pavement markings and line painting after paving,” reads a statement released by the city last week.

The paving portion of the project is expected to start Saturday and continue for a week.

“Traffic will be detoured to one lane each way on one side of the road while the other side is closed for construction,” the city noted.

“Please travel with care, reduce speed and obey traffic controllers and construction signage.”

Information on the city’s construction projects are available at www.whitehorse.ca/construction