LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Drivers who frequently travel south on Interstate 71 will need to prepare for a detour for more than a week. 

Starting on Friday, I-71 southbound will be closed from the Gene Snyder Freeway (Interstate 265) to the Watterson Expressway (Interstate 264) beginning at 8 p.m. The closure is planned to end on Monday, Sept. 26 at 7 a.m.

The ramps to I-71 south at the I-265 interchange will be closed too. This is all happening because of a resurfacing project. 

Officials with the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said closing the southbound lanes at the same time had to be done. 

"Why we're closing that is for digging out more depth surface and base asphalt because we found an area, it's about 3,000 feet long, through there that needs to be dug out more and come back up to the surface," Matt Bullock, chief engineer for KYTC District 5, explained. 

Also, according to KYTC, the road isn't wide enough to safely divide the lanes between working crews and drivers, and there's not enough width on the shoulder to add a concrete barrier wall in the middle. 

Transportation officials said on the plus side, a full closure should lead to a stronger end result for the project.

"Please be patient with us. We do think this will be a better product by doing the full closure," Bullock said. 

The suggested route for drivers on I-71 south and I-265 south is to detour by taking I-265 south to Interstate 64 west, to I-264 east, to get back on I-71 south.

WDRB crews clocked the route at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. The total time? 18 minutes and 24 seconds. 

Drivers who frequently travel south on Interstate 71 will need to prepare for a detour for more than a week.

"Adding extra time is some good advice," Bullock said. "We know the local people will probably drop off around Brownsboro Road or Westport Road if they don't need to go all the way to 64 but the regional traffic coming through, of course we want them to stay on the interstate to 265 and 64 back into downtown and do what they need to do." 

The northbound lanes will be open during the southbound closure. The entire project is scheduled to be complete by this fall.

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