Karl Baker

The News Journal

For a second straight weekend, all northbound lanes of I-495 will close near Wilmington, resulting in estimated 15- to 20-minute delays through northern New Castle County, according to officials from the Delaware Department of Transportation.

Road crews from JJID Inc. will patch potholes on the highway surface during the closure, which will occur on the segment between I-95 and Exit 1 at U.S. 13. The work starts at 8 p.m. Friday and is scheduled to end at 5 a.m. Monday.

The Bear-based construction company in January won the $4.5 million state contract to repair roadway surfaces along I-95, I-295 and I-495, Del. 1, Del. 7 and Del. 141.

I-495, which splits off from I-95 south of Wilmington, is the principal north, south expressway for vehicles traveling to Pennsylvania, a critical link in the Northeast corridor between Washington and New York City.

As a result of the closure, northbound vehicles should stay on I-95, where speeds are expected to drop to 30 mph on the viaduct through Wilmington because of the expected congestion, said Gene Donaldson, DelDOT's chief traffic manager. The extent of the slowdowns should occur between Del. 1 and U.S. 202, he said. However, if a collision occurs on that segment of highway, vehicles speeds could slow to a crawl.

"You're putting 495 traffic onto 95 through Wilmington, the raised part. So you're really hitting volumes that are rush-hour volumes," Donaldson said.

Detour signs will be posted on I-95. The northbound lanes also closed last weekend for road patching work. The project is occurring during the weekend in order to avoid impacting weekday commuters.

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The closure is typical for April. Cold winter months freeze roadways, often causing damage to the surfaces. Spring is the season to fix those scars.

The Penn Relays, an ongoing high school track event held in Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, is not expected to noticeably impact the level of congestion in Delaware, Donaldson said, despite hosting tens of thousands of spectators and participants.

Contact Karl Baker at kbaker@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2329. Follow him on Twitter @kbaker6.