A section of Interstate 83 in Harrisburg will be closed later this month due to the removal of the 29th Street Bridge.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation announced that the highway will be closed between the 19th Street and Paxton Street exits on August 24 due to bridge demolition.

The bridge that carries the freeway was closed in July and will be replaced as part of Section 3 of the I-83 Capital Beltway Project.

Weather permitting, PennDOT announced lane restrictions will begin at 7 p.m. on August 24, with a full closure scheduled for 11 p.m. It said it expects to have one lane in each direction reopened by 5 a.m. on August 25, and all lanes reopened by 8 a.m.

PennDOT said traffic will be diverted during the restrictions:

• Southbound traffic on I-83 takes Exit 45 (Paxton Street/Bass Pro Drive) to Paxton Street, then continues west on Paxton Street to 17th Street and takes the ramp to southbound I-83.
• Northbound traffic takes the 19th Street exit, then takes 19th Street south to Paxton Street, then takes Paxton Street east to Eisenhower Boulevard north to the I-83 northbound ramp.

In addition, nighttime lane restrictions will be in effect in both directions of I-83 from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. to allow PennDOT to prepare the bridge for demolition.

The $1 billion highway project is designed to address deteriorating road conditions on the more than 50-year-old interstate, combat high traffic volumes and congestion, and improve safety. It includes widening an eight-mile stretch of I-83 to six lanes and rebuilding the Eisenhower Interchange.

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A neighborhood in transition: PennDOT’s I-83 Capital Beltway project will take another 15 years