KINGS BEACH, Calif. — Crews hope to limit disruptions to traffic and businesses when the Kings Beach “Core of the Core” project begins next month.

“We’re trying to inconvenience folks as little as possible, but we still have to get the job done,” said Patrick Perkins, resident engineer for the Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project. “It’s going to be a balancing act.”

Weather permitting, work will start April 1 on Highway 28, and one of the first tasks is converting the four-lane highway to three lanes, he said.

Installation of a drainage system and surface improvements such as sidewalks in front of Kings Beach State Recreation Area and the Coon Street roundabout is scheduled to be done by July 1.

Work between Highway 267 and Chipmunk Street will be from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., Monday through Friday, with Saturday work as necessary, said Royal Mortier, project manager.

One lane in each direction is expected to be kept open, with a maximum delay of 20 minutes. There will be no detours into the Grid neighborhood north of the highway.

From July 1 to Sept. 7, crews will cease highway work and focus on the Grid, installing traffic-calming measures and drainage and surface improvements at Coon and Fox streets and Minnow and Salmon avenues.

This work will be done from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Residents can expect only one-way traffic at times, with detours set up within the neighborhood.

“That’s a busy time up here,” Mortier said. “We know that (highway work) would really hinder the public, and we don’t want to do that.”

Crews will resume work on Highway 28 after Sept. 7 until Oct. 15, planning to complete the roundabout at Bear Street during this timeframe.

Businesses and residents will receive written notice when work will be within 500 feet and what to expect.

Robert Cramer, owner of As You Wish in Kings Beach and president of the Kings Beach Downtown Association, said he appreciates the project’s attention to the community’s needs.

“It seems well planned, but we’ll see how it’s implemented,” he said.

The $24 million Core of the Core project — expected to take two construction seasons — is the first of two phases in the Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project, an initiative to upgrade and improve a 1.1-mile section of Highway 28 through Kings Beach.

The project aims to improve pedestrian and bike access and the aesthetics and feel of downtown. Full completion is not expected until at least 2017.

For more information, visit http://www.kingsbeachcore.info.