Maintenance at the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge will require single-lane closures and two 45-minute traffic stops for southbound traffic on Sunday.

This Sunday’s closures will only affect southbound traffic on Route 17 between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., and are necessary to perform electrical/mechanical work at the bridge, Jennifer Gwaltney, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation, said Tuesday.

The closures will be the first of four such Sunday work patterns Gwaltney said, which will be required to remove, overhaul and replace four motor drive units and three drive gear reducers—equipment used to open and close the swing span. All of that apparatus is located under the span, which carries Route 17 over the York River from Gloucester Point to Yorktown.

Additional lane closures and traffic stops are planned for March 19, May 5 and June 16. Gwaltney said Sunday was selected for the work because of lower traffic volume.

Later stages of the work will involve the northbound lanes and affect traffic heading from the Peninsula to Gloucester, Gwaltney said. As planned, each segment of work will require single-lane closures, plus a couple of traffic stops to allow crews to reposition equipment.

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