Traffic has been closed off this week along 2nd Street NW in Altona while construction crews make some major repairs to the road.

A section of the street has deteriorated due to poor drainage over the years. The repair work involves removing four concrete panels, improving the drainage beneath the road, and pouring new concrete panels in an effort to move water off the street faster.

Town CAO Dan Gagne says the street was constructed in 2009 to accommodate the heavy truck traffic accessing the Bunge Canada plant. He says it's unfortunate repairs of this kind are needed on a road that isn't very old

"I think it points to the fact that there was a drainage problem there. There is gas line just west of the road and we could not get the proper grade that we needed at that location at the time of construction. So, when planning out this project in communication with Manitoba Hydro, there was an opportunity to lower the gas line which will allow us to now establish the proper grade."

Gagne says the original plan was to close the road for a total of six working days, but that may change due to the rainy conditions this week.