Construction will be getting under way on the second half of the new Exit 22 overpass in Lowndes County, which will require lane closures on Interstate 75.

The north and south left (inside/fast) lanes will be closed in the area of the overpass before this weekend. Work is scheduled to begin Monday, May 20. The bridge contractor has 120 calendar days to complete this portion of construction, which will include removing old bridge pillars and building new support structures.

In order to barricade the left lane the contractor will also temporarily close the middle lane. The middle lane will reopen once the left lane barrier wall is in place. This will be done at night to minimize traffic interruptions.

The northbound left lane will close at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16. The temporary closure of the middle lane will follow at 10 p.m. The same process will be repeated on the southbound side Friday, May 17.

The $49.6 million Georgia Department of Transportation project to reconstruct the outdated interchanges of Exit 22 near Valdosta and 29 at Hahira is about 72 percent complete. Construction of the new overpasses was staged to avoid closing the interchanges.