The southbound portion of the Interstate 495 Inner Loop will become a gridlocked nightmare this weekend unless drivers opt to take alternate routes around the last major traffic shift for the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge span, officials said.
Already considered one of the worst bottlenecks in the region, the area is likely to remain jammed through early Monday morning after construction crews squeezed four miles on the Maryland side of the Capital Beltway down to a single lane Friday night. The closure was necessary to give workers space to realign the busy highway with the new bridge span. The connecting ramp from southbound Interstate 295 was also closed and the ramp to Route 1 will close Saturday, project spokesman John Undeland said.
Undeland recommends drivers who need to go from Maryland to Virginia to use the western portion of the Beltway or cut through the District on Interstate 395. Last year, a similar closure resulted in three-hour delays stretching for seven miles. Last month, drivers heeding the warnings and the switch of the Outer Loop went relatively smoothly, and officials are hoping for the same this weekend, Undeland said.
There will be no pomp and circumstance once Inner Loop traffic is switched to the new span, officials said. The first few drivers to officially cross the bridge last month received small commemorative coins to honor the event.
Officials said they expect to have all three Inner Loop lanes and both ramps open and ready by 5 a.m. Monday, just in time for rush hour.
