BATON ROUGE - Drivers traveling along Airline Highway near Greenwell Springs Road should plan for alternative routes on Tuesday night as crews close a lane for bridge repairs.

The left lane of northbound US 61 will close at the intersection of Airline Highway and Greenwell Springs Road from 8 p.m. Tuesday, July 7, until 5 a.m. Wednesday, July 8, weather permitting.

The work is part of a permanent repair project to replace bridge girders that were damaged last year after an oversized truck struck the bridge.

DOTD spokesperson Rodney Mallett says crews made a temporary repair last year to protect the structure while making future preparations.

“We sprayed it over to minimize any chance of rusting and now we’re going to go and make a permanent fix,” Mallett said.

For Nidal Hamiedh, the owner of Urban Sports Center on Greenwell Springs Road, road work in the area is something he has watched for decades.

“We’ve been here since 1994, so we’ve seen a lot,” Hamiedh says.

Hamiedh says traffic is typically heaviest during the afternoon commute, but the overnight closure should have less of an impact once traffic slows down.

“The traffic’s really bad around 4, 5, 6 o’clock. After 7 or 8 it slows down a little bit, but it might cause a little traffic,” Hamiedh says.

Hamiedh says he is glad to see crews addressing the needed bridge repairs.

“Yes, that will be great because they kind of forget about us sometimes,” he says.

Additional closures may be needed as crews complete the remaining work, according to DOTD. Drivers are encouraged to use caution and allow extra travel time when traveling through the area.