The first weekend of August restrictions on the M3 Lagan Bridge will begin at 9pm on Friday, with the initial phase due to continue until 6am on Monday, 17 August. The programme forms part of essential maintenance work on the Belfast bridge.
During the first weekend, the westbound on-slip at Middlepath Street will be closed. Westbound lanes one and two on the M3 will also close for the period of the restrictions, the Department for Infrastructure has said.<br><br>The changes will also remove westbound access to and from the Nelson Street off-slip road. Motorists intending to use that route during the closure period will not be able to join or leave the westbound M3 there.
The Department for Infrastructure has scheduled three weekends of restrictions during August for the maintenance programme. The first phase starts on the evening of Friday, 14 August, and ends before the Monday morning period begins on 17 August.
Six further bridge bearings are due to be replaced during what the department describes as the third phase of the wider Lagan Bridge maintenance project. The weekend restrictions are being used to allow that replacement work to proceed.
The department has described the work as essential maintenance. Its notice sets out the affected westbound slip roads and lanes for the first weekend, rather than a full closure of all traffic movements across the bridge.
Drivers using the M3 in Belfast from Friday night are advised to allow for the closure of the Middlepath Street westbound on-slip, the closure of westbound lanes one and two, and the loss of westbound entry to and exit from the Nelson Street off-slip until 6am on Monday.