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The Border Patrol said construction is scheduled to start Monday, January 4th on improvements on the immigration checkpoint on Interstate 19 between Tubac and Amado.

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No information was released about specifics of the construction schedule or what drivers will have to contend with.

The purpose of the $1.5 million project is to provide more safety for Border Patrol agents and protection from sun and rain. Also, one building will be brought to the site with computer connections, a spokesman said.

The construction will intermittently funnel the two northbound lanes into a single lane each so a third lane can be constructed on the east side. A sun and rain metal canopy, about 100 feet in depth and 115 feet in width, will be erected across three lanes.

The traffic impact will extend for several miles. The detour will be about one kilometer, or six-tenths of a mile long, between the Chavez Siding exit and the Agua Linda exit. The checkpoint at Agua Linda Road will continue in operation the entire time, Border Patrol Agent Omar Candelaria said.

Northbound traffic on Interstate 19 won't be routed across the median as was part of an earlier design.

"The northbound lanes will remain open, but during parts of construction, one lane will be shut down," Candelaria said. Southbound traffic will be unaffected, and construction will be halted during the Tubac Festival of the Arts, Feb. 10-14.

Although Candelaria previously said a construction schedule was to be presented to the Border Patrol on Dec. 22 by the contractor, MRM Construction Services Inc., of Phoenix, that did not occur, Border Patrol spokesman Mario Escalante said.

He said he didn't know when the construction schedule and details of the work would be available for the public.

By Kathleen Vandervoet