 A road construction can be challenging during any of the summer months, and now one major project is overshadowing Bemidji's 4th of July celebration. Our Josh Peterson shows us how a detour through downtown Bemidji could impact this year's water carnival. When the Highway 2 resurfacing project began on May 15, it was expected to be completed well before the start of Bemidji's six-day-long 4th of July celebration so that its detour through downtown Bemidji would ease traffic and not impact the event. But due to a scheduling conflict with the project contractor, a two-week delay has pushed the project right over the 4th of July. The project will be head-to-head traffic until June 7th, and that's just the current configuration that it sits in. And then probably the 8th or the 9th is when they'll actually turn on the detour. The closure of the Highway 2 bypass bridge on the northwest side of Bemidji will funnel an additional 9,000 vehicles on Highway 197 through downtown Bemidji, creating a need to be more alert while driving. It's already slow going downtown, but now it's going to be just a bit slow, so it's going to be more vigilant. For the Bemidji JCs who put on the annual 4th of July celebration, this year's event has had its challenges, which is why the carnival will be held in two locations, which are both directly impacted by the downtown detour. We are going to just do our best to make sure we promote public safety, make sure we get the awareness out there, we want to make sure everybody's still able to come down and have a good time, but we also want to make sure they're safe. With a major detour running along Paul Bunyan Drive here in downtown Bemidji, the Bemidji JCs are looking for a silver lining. Thinking an additional 9,000 cars traveling by their carnival could be a good thing. This could potentially be a benefit for our water carnival, having that many people driving right by. Hopefully they're not in too much of a hurry to stop and have some fun. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News. The detour is expected to begin around June 7th and last up to 30 days. The Bemidji JC's 73rd annual water carnival will run this year from June 29th through July 4th. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.