Unalaska, AK – Starting this week, drivers in Unalaska can say goodbye to their normal route to and from the Unalaska end of the South Channel bridge for at least a year. A detour opened on Tuesday to divert traffic around the area of the road where blasting work is being done, and will remain in place through the end of next summer.

DOT project manager Shaun Combs said that a subcontractor is coming in to pave the detour in about three weeks.

Some blasting has been done already to make way for a new sewer facility, one of the other improvements that's being tackled in conjunction with the bridge project.

The replacement of the South Channel bridge is slated to take about three years from start to finish, although Combs said it's likely they'll be wrapped up earlier.