Update:

All southbound lanes of I-45 will also be closed from from Windsor Lakes to Wellman Road from 11 p.m. on Oct. 3 through 5 a.m. on Oct. 6, according to PTP Transportation.

Original Story

Traffic traveling northbound on I-45 will come to a grinding halt this weekend as contractors begin six consecutive weekends of I-45 lane closures for construction of the Hwy. 242 flyover.

Road construction crews will be closing varying sections of I-45 for six consecutive weekends—from 11 p.m. on Fridays through 5 a.m. on Mondays—beginning Oct. 3 and ending Nov. 10, weather permitting, said Jenny Taraborelli, Montgomery County program manager for PTP Transportation.

All northbound I-45 main lanes, from the Research Forest exit to F.M. 1488, will be closed on the Oct. 3 weekend, according to PTP Transportation. Traffic will be diverted to the northbound frontage road at the College Park exit. Two inside southbound lanes will be closed from Hwy. 242 to Hope Road during the weekend as well.

"Over the next six weekends, weather allowing, we are going to be doing all of the [support] beam hanging [for the flyover] across the main lane section [of I-45]," Taraborelli said. "Each weekend closure is going to happen at different parts of the traffic and impact traffic flow."

Following the completion of support beam work, Taraborelli said additional lane closures might be necessary as construction crews begin to pour concrete.

Taraborelli said there will be a law enforcement presence to control traffic, and that the lane closures are intended to maintain the safety of both commuters and construction workers. The PTP is planning the lane closures around the nearby Friday night football game schedule.

"We have worked with the contractor to delay the closing on Friday nights until 11 p.m.," Taraborelli said. "It should allow for the [Friday night football] game to be finished and the stadium to be offloaded before the closures go into place."

Overall, the Hwy. 242 flyover project is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2015.

For more information about lane closures associated with Hwy. 242 construction, visit www.sh242dc.com.