Northbound I-5 along Mission Bay will be closed all weekend

A chunk of Interstate 5 near Mission Bay will be closed all weekend as part part of an ongoing multimillion-dollar facelift of the freeway.

Drivers won’t be able to access the northbound lanes of I-5 between Interstate 8 and the Mission Bay Drive onramp from 9 p.m. on Friday night through 5 a.m. on Monday morning.

During the closure of a key artery of the city’s freeway system, Caltrans is encouraging drivers to travel north on state Routes 163 and 15 and on Interstate 805 instead.

“This important effort is focused on preserving existing infrastructure, improving safety and modernizing the corridor to meet current and future transportation needs,” said spokesperson Stephen Welborn.

A host of onramps along I-5 will be closed over the weekend as well. Those closures include onramps at Moore and Taylor streets,Clairemont Drive, Camino Del Rio West and Sea World Drive/Tecolote Road and the Morena Boulevard offramp.

The disruption is the third of four closures along the I-5 as part of a $113.8 million upgrade of the freeway.

The I-5 Asset Management Project has been improving the road in San Diego, Chula Vista and National City, rehabilitating pavement and upgrading the freeway’s safety and performance, Welborn said.

This weekend’s construction is part of a larger $623 million investment to improve safety and infrastructure on the I-5, I-805 and state Route 78.