Liberty Bridge closure starts Friday night

Traffic patterns will change again next week on the Liberty Bridge, resulting in the closure of all inbound traffic on the bridge and in the Liberty Tunnel from Friday night until Sunday afternoon.

One outbound lane will remain open while the changes are made.

The changes are needed as workers for Joseph B. Fay Co. replace the bridge deck one lane at a time under a two-year, $80 million contract. The goal is to keep three lanes of traffic open most of the time.

At 8 p.m. Friday, crews will begin painting lines; moving barriers, signs and message boards; and shifting the overhead lane control system. The work is expected to be done by noon Sunday, when two inbound lanes and one outbound lane will be open.

But a new configuration will greet drivers on Monday morning.

Right now, when two inbound lanes are open, they are separated by a work lane in the middle. That lane will be finished and the two inbound lanes will be adjacent. But now when two outbound lanes are open they will be

separated by a work lane.

In addition, McArdle Road from Arlington Avenue will be open to two lanes of traffic during this phase of the project. It had been reduced to one lane.

Under the construction plan, traffic patterns are changed three times a day: From 5 a.m. to 2 p.m., there are two inbound lanes and one outbound; from 2 to 8 p.m., there are two outbound lanes and one inbound; and from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. there is one lane in each direction.

In addition, PennDOT reminds motorists that the ramp from the Boulevard of the Allies to the Liberty Bridge has been reduced to one lane and has a stop sign instead of a merge. Also, southbound traffic on Interstate 579 is reduced to one lane approaching the Boulevard of the Allies and the bridge and also has a stop sign.