DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — A busy section of highway in the south metro area will be closed during nighttime hours beginning this weekend.

The Colorado Department of Transportation said westbound C-470 will be closed between Interstate 25 (where E-470 becomes C-470) and Yosemite Street. The closures begin Sunday, June 10 and go through Thursday, June 14. The short stretch of highway will be closed during evening and early morning hours, from 10 p.m. until 5:30 a.m.

There will be another brief closure beginning Sunday, June 18 at 10 p.m. running until 5:30 a.m. the following day.

CDOT said the closure is necessary so construction crews can install columns for the E-470 westbound express lanes as part of the C-470 Express Lanes project.

CDOT recommends drivers use the detours outlined in the map to the left. Alternate routes include the use of County Line Road, Yosemite Street and Lincoln Avenue.

Eastbound C-470 was also recently closed for construction.

More than 100,000 drivers use the affected portion of C-470 every day, according to CDOT. The department said the figure is expected to increase 40 percent by 2035.

The C-470 Express Lanes project has a budget of $276 million. It is designed to “increase mobility and user choice” along 12.5 miles of the highway between I-25 and Wadsworth Boulevard.

Two express lanes will be built in the westbound direction between I-25 and Colorado Boulevard and one express lane will continue from Colorado to Wadsworth.

Eastbound drivers will be able to use one express lane for the entire length of the project — from Wadsworth to I-25.

“The project also includes full reconstruction of existing pavement, the addition of auxiliary lanes at selected locations, on- and off-ramp improvements, realignment of substandard curves, widening of existing bridges, replacing the bridges over the South Platte River, the installation of tolling equipment and new C-470 trail underpasses at Colorado and Quebec,” CDOT said.

Completion is scheduled for 2019.