Staff photo by E.J. Harris Parking has been restricted on and around the blocks of South Main Street between Frazier and Dorion avenues due to construction.

Despite heavy construction work on South Main Street, the road will be clear for the Pendleton Farmers Market and other weekend events for however long the project takes.

Lauren Juzeler, a city engineering technician, said the waterline replacement project taking place primarily on the 400 block of Main Street will run on a Monday through Thursday schedule to minimize the impact on the downtown area.

On Fridays, work crews will remove all their equipment, clear away the signs and cones that block parts of the road and all the on-street parking spots, and infill and gravel the trench being dug to work on the waterline.

Juzeler said the biggest remaining inconvenience might be temporary steel plates placed at the intersection of Main and Emigrant Avenue, although pedestrians can still walk over them.

This is good news for the farmers market, which wants to use both the 300 and 400 blocks of Main Street for the market season opening on May 4 and the beginning its First Fridays concert series on June 1.

Additionally, instead of closing all four lanes of Main Street on the 400 block, crews will direct traffic through two open lanes while the project is ongoing.

Beyond the 400 block of Main Street, the project currently extends to parts of the 300 and 500 blocks of Main Street, Emigrant Avenue and Frazer Avenue.

When the project started on Monday, the farmers market planned to move the market from its usual home on the 300 block of Main Street to the 200 block.

Businesses on the 400 block like the Great Pacific Wine & Coffee Co. were also affected by the construction, with the restaurant reporting losing thousands of dollars on Monday and Tuesday.

Juzeler expects the project to stick to its two- to three-week timeline, although it could change as the project proceeds.