From Staff Reports
Friday, November 18, 2005 6:40 AM

Each direction of the Capital Beltway in Alexandria will be reduced to a single lane during overnight hours beginning tonight at 9:30 p.m. and lasting into next week.

Additionally, all outer loop lanes will be closed periodically for intervals of 20 to 30 minutes, and the ramps from northbound and southbound Telegraph Road to the outer loop will be closed during overnight hours.

The closures will allow crews to lift 80-foot-long steel beams over the Beltway for new highway ramps that are part of the bridge project. Bridge officials said similar lane closures last month produced backups of about 2.5 miles.

Wilson Bridge officials advise drivers to avoid the area and warn that backups could extend as far west as the Springfield Interchange, where overnight work is also planned this weekend. The Springfield Interchange Project is scheduled to close Beltway lanes from Braddock Road to Van Dorn Street during the daytime and overnight hours on Monday and Tuesday.

The lanes will definitely be closed tonight and tomorrow night, and possibly Sunday and Monday nights, if necessary. On Saturday and Sunday, the closures will begin at 8 p.m.