MOSES LAKE — Drivers will have to find alternate routes over the bridge at State Route 17 and Stratford this weekend — construction crews will be working to resurface it. 

Crews have already ground down the pavement in the project area, as drivers who have gone through the intersection already know. Crews will be working through Monday on the resurfacing.

It’s the second overpass in the project area to be repaved; work on the bridge over Interstate 90 at the south end of town was completed two weeks ago.

Detour routes will be available and will have signs along the route. There’s one at the intersection of Wheeler and Pioneer, as an example.

In addition, the pavement on the onramp and offramp has been ground down, and they will be repaved too. That requires closing the ramps during project hours, 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., at least through June 6.

It’s part of a larger project to resurface the seven-mile section of SR 17 where it runs through Moses Lake, from the intersection with Patton Boulevard to the I-90 interchange south of town.  

In a resurfacing project — as opposed to repaving — crews shave off and replace the top two to three inches of asphalt. The project started at the south end of town and is working its way north to Patton Boulevard, except for the bridge resurfacing. The project is scheduled for completion in July. 

And after all the discussion for the past three months, this is it — Saturday is the day construction on the Vantage Bridge switches from five days per week to seven.

Crews are working to replace the bridge deck, a project that is projected to take four construction seasons. The bridge will have one-lane traffic in each direction every day through the end of the construction season in early October. There are two exceptions, the week of July 1 through 8 and Labor Day weekend, 

Washington Department of Transportation officials recommended drivers take that into account when they’re going places, including concerts at the Gorge Amphitheater. Speeds through the construction zone have been reduced to 40 miles per hour. The lanes are narrow, too. 

The combination of narrow lanes and 40 miles per hour are expected to slow traffic on the approaches to the bridge. Traffic won’t stop, but it will slow down considerably. That’s expected to lead to backups during periods of heavy traffic, such as summer weekends.

There are other cross-state routes, but Megan Lott, public information officer for the Washington Department of Transportation Central Region, said roadwork may be scheduled on those too. Drivers are encouraged to check the DOT’s real time travel map when they’re heading out to see which routes are subject to delays.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at [email protected].