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Drivers are being urged to avoid the Capital Beltway near Tysons and McLean during a weekend construction operation that will close four of the six northbound lanes for about a mile.

The closures are scheduled to begin Friday night, Jan. 24, and continue until 5 a.m. Monday, Jan. 27. They will extend from the Route 7 interchange at Leesburg Pike in Tysons to Lewinsville Road in McLean.

The Virginia Department of Transportation expects significant traffic disruptions throughout the weekend. Motorists who cannot avoid northbound Interstate 495 should prepare for delays and backups and consider alternate routes.

Crews will use the closure to install five steel bridge girders over the Beltway’s Inner Loop at the Dulles Corridor interchange. Each girder is 295 feet long. VDOT described the work as the largest girder installation undertaken during the 495 NEXT project.

Dubbed “Big Beam Weekend,” the operation will also affect the ramp connecting the eastbound Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Airport Access Highway to northbound I-495. Westbound Dulles Toll Road lanes passing beneath I-495 will be affected as well. Detours will direct motorists around both closures.

The Dulles Airport Access Highway will remain open, but travelers heading to Dulles International Airport are advised to allow additional time.

Construction on the $660 million 495 NEXT project began in 2022. It will extend the I-495 Express Lanes approximately 3 miles north, from the Dulles Toll Road in Tysons past the George Washington Memorial Parkway in McLean.

An earlier phase involving concrete girders for a new Old Dominion Drive bridge required multiple Beltway lane closures for about a month last fall.

The expanded toll lanes are expected to open later this year, with the overall project scheduled for completion by mid-2026.