The section of road being worked on is barely a half-mile long, but it's part of one the busiest corridors in Rockland and cuts through the heart of Nanuet.

From now until Thanksgiving, drivers should count on delays and eventually, detours. The best bet is to avoid Middletown Road between Church Street and the entrance to the Stop & Shop by using side streets or Route 304.

"I grew up in Nanuet and it still has the look and feel of suburban sprawl," said John Roth, who owns a building on Middletown Road, also known as Main Street.

That's about to change.

When the $3 million project is done in the spring, the road will have been repaved and decorative crosswalks and drainage pipes will be in place. There will be new sidewalks adorned with decorative streetlights and traffic signal poles, along with updated signs.

The county and Clarkstown are partners in the project. The town is contributing about $700,000 to spruce up the appearance of the hamlet, as it did with Congers two years ago and as it will do with Valley Cottage later this year, with the county making up the balance.

George Wolpert, the county engineer in charge of the project, said work would take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.

Charles "Skip" Vezzetti, Rockland County highways superintendent, said the work was being done during the day in consideration of nearby residents. Homes are as close as a block away.

"It's just not one night," Vezzetti said. "This is going to be going on for months. ... We want them to be able to sleep at night."

First up is drainage work. Orange cones have already gone up along the east side of the road. Workers from Morano Brothers, the Croton-on-Hudson firm awarded the contract, will soon begin cutting the pavement so they can put in new drain pipes and basins. They'll work their way south.

Once that's completed by late summer, new curbs and sidewalks will be installed in small sections and on one side of Middletown Road at a time, Wolpert said.

Raoul Barahona, owner of the Nanuet Deli, said the short-term pain was worth long-term gain.

"It's definitely going to affect us," said Barahona, noting many of his customers walk to the deli. "Business is going to be slow."

Drivers will most be impacted around November, Wolpert said.

That's when paving begins. The road will be closed to northbound traffic. Cars will be detoured onto Church Street and then College Avenue. From there, they can stay straight to catch Route 59 or turn left on First Street, which takes them back to Middletown Road.

Drivers traveling south on Middletown Road won't be diverted, but lanes will be shifted to accommodate repaving crews.

If the road work doesn't wrap up by Thanksgiving — Wolpert doubted it would — the contractors would be contractually obligated to stop working on it until after Jan. 1. Officials don't want any lanes blocked during the holidays.

"Some work would probably spill out to next spring," Wolpert said, adding it would likely involve the lighting, signal poles and the top layer of asphalt on the road.

But now, a proposed Lowe's home-improvement store and its accompanying traffic threaten to disturb the calm of his quiet suburban neighborhood, the 54-year-old said.

"It's going to be a toll plaza with all those fumes and those cars," he said. "It's going to make our beautiful residential area extremely commercial."

Freiberg was one of dozens of Hamlets of Rockland residents concerned about the proposed development, which would consist of a 141,808-square-foot home-improvement center and a 33,442-square-foot garden center on about 13 acres between Smith Road and Overlook Boulevard.

A flier was circulated within the communities that make up the more than 1,200-unit Hamlets of Rockland, urging residents to attend Wednesday's Clarkstown Planning Board meeting on the proposed facility.

"Your property values and quality of life here in the hamlets depend on your voice," it read. "Think of the impact this store will have on Smith Road. What will happen to New Clarkstown Road and Overlook (Boulevard) with increased truck and car traffic?"

Emil Kessler, 67, of the Timberline condominiums did not attend the meeting but said he was opposed to the development.

"It's one thing if it was a small retail store, but this is huge," he said.

Both Kessler and Freiberg said they feared customers would use Kingsgate Parkway, the private road that travels through the Hamlets of Rockland, to avoid traffic.

Clarkstown Town Planner Joe Simoes said the Planning Board declared the project would not have an adverse effect on the environment. Wednesday's four-hour meeting, which mostly focused on the Lowe's project and residents' traffic concerns, resulted in Lowe's officials agreeing to alter their plans to improve traffic flow at its entrance as well as provide a second exit for customers.

Lowe's officials also agreed that once construction was complete, they would fund any necessary traffic flow improvements to the following intersections: Smith Road and Middletown Road; Smith Road and Overlook Boulevard; Smith Road and New Clarkstown Road; Overlook Boulevard and New Clarkstown Road; and New Clarkstown Road and the Hamlets of Rockland entry road.

"The studies show there would be some traffic impact but not something that would warrant significant changes," Simoes said. "The applicant would provide money in escrow that would address those changes."

At the meeting, residents also said they were concerned with the condition of Smith Road, which Simoes described as steep, narrow and in need of drainage improvements. Simoes said the Planning Board and Town Board would urge the county to improve the road.

County Superintendent of Highways Charles "Skip" Vezzetti said the county highway department had plans to install curbs and sidewalks as well as improve drainage on Smith Road from Middletown Road to Pascack Road. The U.S. Department of Transportation would fund 80 percent of the project and the state Department of Transportation would fund the remainder. However, it would be about another four years before the county receives the funding, he said.

"We're still in the preliminary stages because we haven't received the authorization," he said.