Beltway lanes to close this weekend

Hank Silverberg, WTOP.com
MERRIFIELD, Va. - A stretch of the Capital Beltway in Virginia engulfed in High Occupancy Toll lanes construction is about to become a bit more complicated.

The Virginia Department of Transportation will close all lanes of northbound Interstate 495 near Gallows Road and Route 50 in order to narrow and shift the lanes to the right.

The closure will occur by 11 p.m. Friday. By 7 a.m. Saturday, the northbound lanes will reopen.

Drivers will be directed to the exit ramp lanes for Route 50 and continue through the ramp lanes for access back onto I-495 north.

"Motorists will simply follow to the right on each side through that collect and distribute ramp, kind of like an exit ramp, and just continue to go straight back on to 495," says VDOT spokesman Steve Titunic.

"Follow the signs and slow down in these areas, especially where we have these shifts."

VDOT is shifting the lanes and making them narrower so it can build new bridge piers for the HOT lane bridges.

Saturday night the southbound lanes will be closed for the same construction. The lanes will be closed by 11 p.m. and reopen by 9 a.m.

VDOT says the traffic shift for I-495 south will begin past the Lee Highway overpass toward Route 50.

Titunic says drivers will see similar types of changes for the next 12 to 18 months as the HOT lanes project moves forward.

(Copyright 2009 by WTOP. All rights reserved.)