Evening rush hour could extend even longer into the nighttime hours for the next couple of weeks, at least for some drivers.
The HOT lanes project continues on the Beltway, and on Wednesday the Virginia Department of Transportation will close off I-495 South at the I-66 interchange from 11 p.m until 5 a.m.
Drivers will be detoured onto I-66 West, up one exit, where they'll turn around and head back to I-495 South.
VDOT's Megaprojects spokesman Steve Titunik said crews will start closing lanes before 11 p.m.
"We'll take a lane at 9:30, we'll take another at 10:30, we'll take a third, so we pretty much have a lane or two open, going on until 11 o'clock at night," Titunik said.
Drivers should add 15 to 20 minutes to their expected travel times. The work will continue each night for the next two weeks.
The entire HOT lanes project is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.
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It's aimed at incentivizing carpools, and allowing scheduled bus lines to use the Beltway for the first time.
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