People living in Essex County may need to start leaving earlier for work next year due to a major closure coming to Highway 3.

The provincial Ministry of Transportation is planning to resurface Highway 3 between Ruthven and Cottam.

The ministry has sent notices to people who live along that corridor in Kingsville, explaining how the closure would affect a 10-km stretch between County Road 27 in Cottam and the County Road 34 junction on Highway 3, near Ruthven.

The early plan is to detour traffic on to County Road 34, the old Highway 3, Lee Ann Fisher with the ministry said plans are not yet final.

"Nothing's for sure yet," said Fisher. "That's one of the things the study will assess, but at the moment there's a strong possibility that we'll need to use a detour during construction."

Also temporary spotlights are to be installed along the road.

Fisher said a second letter will be sent out inviting people to attend a public information session this fall, "to present some information about the project to the public and get feedback," Fisher said.

The ministry will then go through those comments and address them.

Construction is set to start next spring.