[KHTS] – A segment of San Fernando Boulevard under Interstate-5 is scheduled to close permanently in mid-May, California Department of Transportation officials announced Friday.

The portion to be closed is a half-mile segment that crosses under I-5 between the Lincoln Street off-ramp on the east side of the freeway and the intersection of Lincoln Street and Victory Place on the west side.

The exact date of the closure has not yet been announced, but will be posted on the I-5 info website at the end of April. Residents can also call the I-5 Info line at 855-454-6335, according to a Caltrans news release.

The permanent closure will allow workers to realign San Fernando Boulevard so that it connects directly to Empire Avenue, creating a new undercrossing at Empire Avenue that will serve as the new east-west link.

The undercrossing is scheduled to open in mid-2017, Caltrans officials said.

The closed segment will allow for the construction of temporary railroad tracks that will allow trains to keep operating while the permanent tracks adjacent to I-5 are elevated.

As a result of the closure, the northbound I-5 Lincoln street off-ramp and southbound San Fernando Boulevard on-ramp will close permanently, while the southbound Scott Road/Burbank Boulevard off-ramp will be closed and integrated into the new Empire Avenue interchange, according to the news release.

Detours will be posted to route motorists around the closures, and Caltrans officials are working with the city of Burbank to implement traffic circulation improvements on local streets–including corridor timing, new signals and the reconfiguration of Buena Vista Street to accommodate additional traffic–before San Fernando Boulevard is closed, Caltrans officials said.

The permanent closure is part of the Empire Project, which involves a series of improvements to I-5 in Burbank between Magnolia Boulevard and Buena Vista Street.

Goals for the project include the improvement of carpool lanes, elevated railroad tracks, reconfigured ramps, the new interchange at Empire Avenue, reconstruction and widening of the Burbank Boulevard Bridge and more, according to the news release.

For more information on this and other I-5 freeway improvement projects, click here.