More details on paving work that will happen on a main road north of Kamloops that connects a handful of communities.

Clearwater mayor Merlin Blackwell says Dunn Lake Road is going to be upgraded between Chu Chua and Barriere, a stretch of about 20 kilometres.

“I was talking to one of the councillors in Barriere the other day, and he said it’s going to be weird, we’re not going to know who’s come out from Chu Chua today, because you could tell by how dirty their cars were no matter which day it was. So it’s going to be a little bit of stealth for the people of Simpcw to come in to Barriere and go shopping, and that sort of thing.”

That paving will be done with money the Ministry of Transportation is providing to the Simpcw First Nation.

“The rest of the road north of there, to Clearwater, we’re working diligently with Ministry of Highways to make improvements to, or changes to. Clearwater has 3.7 kilometres of that in our district, and it is a challenging section of road. But we are actively working on that, for those out there that are wondering,” Blackwell says.

The road upgrades north of Barriere come after a Memorandum of Understanding was signed earlier this month between the Simpcw First Nation and the B.C. government.

The timeline for the work is currently unclear.