If you use Highway 20 between Nevada and Yuba Counties, expect some major traffic disruptions over the next several years. Prep work is underway this week on a 28-point-5 million dollar safety project in the Smartsville area. No delays are planned from that activity. But Cal Trans Spokesman Gilbert Mohtes-Chan says around mid-or-late August blasting operations will need to be done over the next three to four months. That’ll be from around 10 to 11am on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday…or possibly all three days. And that stretch have to be closed, between McGanney Lane and Mooney Flat Road…

click to listen to Gilbert Mohtes-Chan

Portable roadside message boards will alert motorists, as well as residents, in advance of specific blasting dates. Chan says Hammonton-Smartsville Road will be open as a detour route…

click to listen to Gilbert Mohtes-Chan

The project, which should be completed sometime in 2020, also includes a new bridge, turn pockets, and drainage improvements. The project is one of four coming up over the next few years on Highway 20, between Loma Rica Road, near Hallwood, and the Yuba-Nevada County line.