The state Department of Transportation recommends drivers along Interstate 20 in Lexington County consider an alternate route due to lane closures that will continue through the next two weeks.

The single lane closures started Nov. 15 with westbound lanes between mile markers 53 and 54. This will slow down traffic between the Exit 55 interchange at SC-6/S Lake Drive and the next interchange, Exit 51 at Longs Pond Road.

“Heavy congestion should be expected,” reads a news release from SCDOT.

Single lane closures will be in place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Once the westbound lanes are completed, eastbound lanes along that stretch will close on the same schedule. Holiday restrictions will prohibit any lane closures between Nov. 24 and and Nov. 28 the week of Thanksgiving.

The closures are part of continuing work to complete a four-phase widening of an 11-mile section of I-20 in Lexington County, extending from mile marker 60 near U.S. 378/Sunset Boulevard to mile marker 49 just past Longs Pond Road. The project will add a third inside lane going in both directions in an effort to reduce congestion.

“It is expected to be completed in the winter of 2022,” the release states.