Freeway and ramp closings on I-10 and U.S. 290 are expected to complicate traffic.

Two major freeway closings — one long-term, the other for the weekend — are likely to complicate Houston area traffic starting Friday night.

Westbound access from U.S. 290 to the Sam Houston Tollway will close Friday at 9 p.m and scheduled to open by 5 a.m. March 7, according to the Texas Department of Transportation.

The Harris County Toll Road Authority, which manages the Sam Houston Tollway, is telling drivers to expect delays, as the closing involves both northbound and southbound tollway access from westbound U.S. 290.

Downtown traffic will also have to adjust to a major closing of eastbound Interstate 10 at Interstate 45, expected to last until 5 a.m. Monday.

The eastbound lanes will be reduced gradually, starting at Heights at 7:30 p.m., until the entire freeway is closed at I-45 at 9 p.m. Traffic will be forced from I-10 onto I-45.

TxDOT officials said drivers wishing to continue on I-10 east of downtown should follow I-45 north to Loop 610, then head east and return to downtown via U.S. 59 southbound. Drivers can then merge back onto I-10 eastbound.

In addition, entrance ramps to eastbound I-10 at Patterson and Yale/ Heights will be closed. Exit ramps at Taylor and Smith will be closed. The entrance ramp at Taylor will be open, though traffic will immediately be forced onto I-45, said TxDOT spokeswoman Deidrea George.

The closing allows crews to continue rehabilitation of the bridge that carries southbound I-45 atop I-10, George said. Work started to replace pavement and make repairs to the I-45 bridges — built in 1961 — almost exactly a year ago. The $25.6 million project is expected to conclude in December.

Those headed north on the Sam Houston Tollway will use a temporary exit west of Gessner and use the frontage roads to merge onto the tollway north of Philippine.

Drivers headed south on the tollway will continue west on U.S. 290, exit at Jones, and return to the tollway via eastbound U.S. 290.

The closing is needed to complete paving and other work at the interchange, including rebuilding a support column for the connector ramps from U.S. 290 to the tollway.

As part of the $1.8 billion freeway widening, the U.S. 290 interchange with the tollway is being rebuilt. When completed, drivers will move from the westbound freeway to the tollway via a collector-distributor ramp, which runs parallel to the freeway before splitting the northbound and southbound traffic. The pattern is similar to how westbound traffic on Interstate 10 connects to the Sam Houston Tollway.

Webber LLC won a $110.4 million construction job to widen the freeway from West Little York to Spencer, including the tollway interchange. Across three segments of the project, Webber is doing $321.6 million worth of construction.

The entire widening will expand U.S. 290 to at least five lanes in each direction from Loop 610 to Texas 6, and four lanes in each direction to Waller.

The 38-mile project, which includes interchanges and new entrance and exit ramps at local streets, is on pace to finish in late 2017, TxDOT officials said.