Drivers Urged to Avoid Eastbound Ventura Freeway

State Department of Transportation officials are urging motorists to avoid the eastbound Ventura Freeway in the San Fernando Valley tonight and throughout the weekend because of bridge construction.

However, Caltrans officials said that widening work on the Corbin Avenue bridge will mark the end of weekend closures for the next several weeks.

Only the inside eastbound lane and median shoulder from Winnetka Avenue to Corbin Avenue will be open to traffic from 10 p.m. today until 10 a.m. Saturday, said Caltrans spokesman Mark Rutherford. The Winnetka on- and off-ramps will also be closed from 9 p.m. today until 10 a.m. Saturday, he said.

From 10:30 p.m. Saturday until 9:30 a.m. Sunday, only the outside eastbound lane will be open along the same portion of the freeway, Rutherford said. The Winnetka Avenue on-ramp will also be closed from 9 p.m. Saturday until 9:30 a.m. Sunday.

Caltrans officials said they did not know when weekend construction would resume on the freeway.

Early morning and late evening construction on the eastbound and westbound lanes will continue during the week, he said.

The work is part of a 16-month, $18.5-million widening and improvement project that began in March, Rutherford said.