Drivers who take Arlington Boulevard/Route 50 will begin facing detours this weekend thanks to the demolition and subsequent rebuilding of the Courthouse Road bridge.

Westbound Arlington Boulevard will close at 8 a.m. Saturday and reopen by 8 p.m. Sunday, according to the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Westbound traffic will be directed to exit at 14th Street, eventually over to Wilson Boulevard, and then back to Route 50 via 10th Street.

[View a Google map of this weekend's detour provided by VDOT.]

"The bridge will be gone after this weekend," VDOT spokeswoman Jennifer McCord said. 

And then the major construction starts, closing eastbound Arlington Boulevard through August.

Eastbound Route 50 traffic will be directed to the frontage road following the Courthouse Road exit, take a left onto Rhodes Street, and then follow 14th Street to Courthouse Road.

[View a map of the eastbound Route 50 detour to Courthouse Road.]

Courthouse Road traffic heading toward eastbound Route 50 will be directed to 14th Street, onto Rhodes and then left on the frontage road before crossing Meade Street to the Arlington Boulevard entrance. A temporary traffic signal will be installed at Meade Street, according to VDOT.

[View to see a map of the Courthouse Road detour to Route 50.]

The work is part of a $39 million project designed to improve the safety and accessibility at the Arlington Boulevard interchanges at Courthouse Road and 10th Street.

The project, slated for completion in mid-2014, includes improvements to bridges, ramps and intersections, along with new acceleration and deceleration lanes, and new sections of bicycle trail.

Eastbound Route 50 sees more than 32,000 vehicles a day, according to VDOT. That's projected to increase to 40,000 a day by 2032.

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