Selectmen want to offer assistance to business owners on Routes 6 and 28 in East Wareham later this year when a state road construction project starts.

“It’s difficult today to make money and survive,” Selectman Alan Slavin said at the board’s Tuesday night meeting. “If you run three months and business falls off, it could be a death knell for certain businesses.”

Slavin proposed that the board visit business owners affected before construction begins to let them know what to expect. The estimated $18 million project is slated for the stretch of highway where Routes 6 and 28 converge near Maple Springs Road to Red Brook Road.

Currently, the project’s details are still being finalized, but Slavin said half of the work is expected to be finished between July of this year and June 2018.

The second half of the project is slated to be completed in late 2018 and early 2019.

In two weeks, Slavin said he will have more information regarding the project’s timeline. That information will be posted to the town’s website when it is known.