Interstate 85 motorists should plan on seeing some construction work in the Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road area Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Georgia Department of Transportation plans to close the outside, or far right, lane for about 2,000 feet.

The outside lane for northbound motorists will be closed 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. for paving. Crews will begin work at 11 a.m. on the southbound side and close the lane until paving is completed that evening.

The DOT is building a new bridge to take McGinnis Ferry over the interstate.

Crews will begin paving the shoulders of the interstate under where the new bridge will run. Once the shoulders are paved and ready for traffic, all lanes of traffic will be shifted to the outside, said DOT District Construction Engineer Randall Davis.

“This will give more room along the median so crews can build the support structure for the new bridge,” Davis said.

On Wednesday, crews are planning to work along the shoulder of the I-85. The shoulder will be closed, but no lanes will be closed to traffic.

The project involves construction of a 2.67-mile, four-lane divided highway from the current end of McGinnis Ferry Road to Lawrenceville-Suwanee Road, the first I-85 exit south of Interstate 985, which takes motorists to Gainesville.

The estimated construction cost is $20.4 million. The project is nearly one-fourth complete and on schedule for the completion date of Sept. 30, 2011.

Federal stimulus money is paying for the project.

Hall County’s three stimulus projects, highway resurfacings and a concrete rehabilitation on Ga. 365, have been completed, said Teri Pope, spokeswoman for the DOT’s Gainesville-based District 1.