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Heavy blasting work will delay travel along U.S. Route 26 near Mount Hood this week as part of a $20 million safety improvement project for the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Salem-based K&E Excavating is performing demolition and excavation to cut rock slopes that in the past have triggered serious crashes west of Government Camp. Crews started blasting near the popular Mirror Lake trailhead last week and will continue eastward this week, said Kimberly Dinwiddie, an ODOT spokeswoman. New slopes will be cut farther away from the road, she said.

鈥淭he contractor is using excavation methods to remove as much of the rock as possible without doing the blasting,鈥� she said.

K&E Excavating started work after July 4, and the project is expected to continue through 2016. Crews will widen the shoulder on both sides of the highway, build a retaining wall to protect the historic Pioneer Bridle trail, install medians on a 1.6-mile stretch east of the Mirror Lake curves and complete other paving work.

The site’s soil conditions were studied extensively in preparation for the project, Dinwiddie said, and it was determined that soil in some locations could be removed without blasting.

All removed rock, vegetation and dirt will be crushed and reused to rebuild a pair of dormant quarries in the forest, Dinwiddie said.