Milling work underway on Columbia Street on Aug. 23, 2025. (Image Credit: Victor Kaisar/CFJC Today)

By Victor Kaisar

Paving Work

Columbia Street paving project begins as city aims for limited traffic impacts, quick completion

Aug 23, 2025 | 11:09 AM

KAMLOOPS — Work to repave a two block section of Columbia Street in downtown Kamloops officially began early Saturday (Aug. 23) morning.

The project will see work take place between First and Third Avenue, and the city’s Infrastructure Delivery Manager Matt Kachel says unlike the Overlanders Bridge project, this work should be fairly straightforward.

“It’s not like on the Overlanders where we’re waiting for concrete and liquid-applied membranes to set and cure before you can put a wheel load on them,” Kachel said. “We grind it down and people can drive on it right away. And after we pave it, you can drive on it pretty soon after.”

“We are able to be a little bit more nimble with the Columbia project.”

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That said, Kachel noted crews will be working in off-peak hours to reduce impacts to traffic on the major downtown thoroughfare. Weekday work hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., while weekend work is expected to begin around 6:00 a.m.

According to the city, Columbia Street will be prepped for paving between Aug. 25 and 29. No work will take place from Aug. 30 to Sept. 5, and paving and line painting work is scheduled for early September.

“We plan to work outside of the peaks and avoid areas where there is going to be lots of concentration of traffic which is that first week of back to school,” Kachel said, noting work on Columbia Street is expected to wrap up early next month.

There will also not be any night work to minimize potential impacts to nearby residents and to patients and visitors at Royal Inland Hospital.

He also said this work on Columbia Street will help “minimize future traffic impacts” as a “larger, more complex project” between Third Avenue and McGill Road is expected to take place in 2027. In addition to milling and paving work, Kachel said that project also includes work on a watermain following a break last year.

“It was repaired but we need to do more there,” he noted. “It will be a combination of utility upgrades and new pavement.”

You can find the latest updates on the Columbia Street project between First and Third Avenue here.

– With files from Michael Reeve/CFJC Today