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VALLEY — If possible, it may be a good idea to avoid Exit 79 over I-85 for the next several weeks. Police Chief Mike Reynolds talked about that at Monday’s meeting of the Valley City Council.

Some major work is going to be completing to the entrance and exit ramps, converting them from asphalt to concrete. It will be done in two phases with each phase expected to take approximately six weeks to complete. The project will also impact north and south-bound traffic along Highway 29. In the portion that crosses the bridge over the interstate, two of the four lanes will be closed off. This will likely cause traffic delays on both sides of the bridge.

Work was scheduled to start on Tuesday. Large digital signs are in place on both sides of the highway approaching the bridge. These signs alert drivers of the work that’s taking place.

“You need to avoid going there if you can,” Reynolds said.

Mayor Leonard Riley said that people need to understand that this will be taking place for some time. He suggested using different routes to get to where you are going.

There’s only one route to do this — the Fob James Drive-Phillips Road connector over the Hennon King Bridge at Exit 77.