All lanes on the Maryland side of Interstate 495 at the Woodrow Wilson Bridge will close tonight and Saturday for continuing work on the Route 210 Interchange.
At 11 p.m. tonight, the Inner Loop and Outer Loop of the Capital Beltway are slated to be closed so that contractors can lift steel beams into place for the 210 overpass. The work could last until 8 a.m. Saturday. The road is scheduled to be shuttered again Saturday at 10 p.m. for the same work, remaining closed until as late as 8 a.m. Sunday.
Major traffic impacts are expected.
Drivers headed northbound on I-495 out of Virginia will be detoured onto the Maryland 210 south exit immediately east of the Wilson Bridge, then onto Oxon Hill Road and back onto the highway. Those headed south will be detoured onto the Maryland 210 exit, across 210 and then back onto the Beltway.
“This exact closure and detour has been implemented in the past for work in this area and has worked smoothly with minimal impacts to the traveling public,” according to a bridge project news release.
To minimize delays, however, southbound long-distance drivers are urged to take the Outer Loop to the American Legion Bridge and across the Potomac to I-95 south in Springfield.
Drivers coming from southern Virginia should consider taking the Harry W. Nice Bridge onto U.S. 301, or I-95 north to the American Legion Bridge.
Bridge officials also are warning of alternating lane closures Monday through Thursday between Telegraph Road and U.S. Route 1 in Virginia as the old Route 1 Beltway overpass is demolished.
