The new wing at Sleepy Hollow under construction. (CBC)

Prince Edward Island's main provincial jail is set to open a new wing next month designed to ease overcrowding and to be used mainly by people serving weekend sentences.

Up to eight inmates will share each room, sleeping on built-in concrete bunks and eating their meals there as well.

"Anything you can nail down, cement down, is more secure and, of course, that's an advantage," Craig McDowall, manager of the Provincial Correction Centre, just north of Charlottetown in Sleepy Hollow, said Monday.

"Again, it's not necessarily built for comfort, but more for efficiency."

About 30 inmates serve their sentences on weekends.

Having this new wing and its 48 additional beds will ease overcrowding at the jail, McDowall said, which is typically over-capacity by about 30 inmates. It will also give staff more flexibility to keep some inmates away from each other.

"When you don't have a lot of space and you have everybody of all walks of life and different issues coming together, of course, the potential for something negative to occur is there and it's really high," McDowall said.

A separate entrance will keep the weekend inmates away from the main population, and make it easier for staff to keep drugs and tobacco out.

People serving time on weekends feel pressured to bring in such contraband, he said.

"The same characters that are doing the wheeling and dealing on the streets are also the same characters we are dealing with here. So, that causes us some compatibility issues," McDowall said.

"It gets back into the safety and security issue."

The new units are designed so staff can keep a closer eye on inmates.

A security hub will look out over the six units that surround it, so guards can keep an eye on all the rooms at the same time. Guards will be able to watch inmates sleep, eat and socialize.

Glass windows on showers and washrooms offer some privacy, but still let guards keep track of inmates.

The P.E.I. Union of Public Sector Employees, which represents most of the correctional officers at the jail, had complained about overcrowding for years.