DERBY — Connecticut’s smallest city will be serving up huge challenges for Newtown drivers, commuters, and heavy trucks that travel on Route 34 between I-84 and Route 8 on the weekend of August 16.

According to city officials, a Derby Water Pollution Control project involving the construction of a pump station at an already narrow choke point just before traffic enters or exits the northern stretch of the city’s downtown area will force the closure of that busy commuter conduit for most or all of the entire weekend.

Travelers familiar with the area may have already experienced delays from ongoing construction that has frequently reduced passage to a single lane adjacent to the popular Dew Drop Inn.

Officials say that the state roadway will close at 8 pm on Friday, August 16, and may remain closed to all but local traffic until 5 am Monday, August 19.

The road — known as Roosevelt Drive in Derby — will be closed between its intersections with North Avenue and Olivia Street.

While numerous State DOT signs along Route 8 and I-84 have been warning of the closure for more than a week, local residents who travel that route southbound to the Naugatuck Valley will need to detour from Roosevelt/Route 34 onto Monroe Turnpike/Route 111 in Stevenson, just east of the Newtown border.

Traffic will then be directed from Route 111 to Route 110/Shelton Road, just past the Monroe Town Hall, and into Shelton. From there, drivers can either access Route 8 in downtown Shelton or take Bridge Street and reconnect to Route 34 to continue to Orange and eventually New Haven.

The same detour will serve anyone traveling from Route 34 in Derby toward Newtown — Bridge Street, to Route 110, to Route 111, to Route 34 in the Stevenson section of Monroe.

A municipal source told The Newtown Bee that a huge crane will be stationed in the roadway to facilitate the completion of that pump house construction, and only local traffic will be permitted in the area throughout that weekend project.

The detour may end earlier than 5 am on August 19 if the project is completed sooner and the crane is removed.