The last of several Temecula freeway ramp closures needed to finish a $138.8 million-project to ease congestion on the 15 Freeway are set for this weekend.

And it will be a long one, lasting the full weekend and coming at a key street in the city.

Starting at 11 p.m. Friday and ending at 6 a.m. Monday, both northbound on-ramps to the 15 Freeway at Winchester Road will be closed, a city news release states. The ramps will be shut for a total of 55 hours.

The closures mark the final stage of the French Valley Parkway Phase 2 Improvement Project.

The work intends to give drivers entering the freeway from Winchester Road or French Valley Parkway dedicated lanes to the 15 and 215 freeways to reduce the bottleneck that occurs as vehicles merge.

The busy Winchester Road is home to the Promenade Temecula mall and many shops, eateries and businesses.

“This is the last big push,” City Engineer Avlin Odviar said in an April 11 video update.

The project, which has been under construction for two years, aims to smooth traffic flow in a spot where drivers previously had to weave across lanes to reach either the 15 or the 215 Freeway.

In December, a similar closure occurred on the Winchester Road on-ramps to the northbound 15, one at a time, each lasting about a month.

The site has two ramps. A straight ramp is for drivers heading west on Winchester Road who want to take the northbound 15 toward Riverside. Across the street, a loop-shaped ramp connects drivers coming from Jefferson Avenue and the west side of town to the northbound 15.

The final weekend of work will see crews paving, striping and connecting the newly added lanes. When the ramps reopen Monday morning, April 28, drivers will notice a big change.

Traffic entering the 15 northbound on-ramps from Winchester Road will no longer merge directly onto the 15 Freeway.

Instead, vehicles will be routed onto new, widened lanes — separated from the rest of the freeway lanes by a concrete barrier, Odviar said in the video.

Once the project is complete, drivers will be able to get to the 15 or 215 freeways using dedicated ramps from Winchester Road or French Valley Parkway.

“Congratulations, Temecula — you made it through two years of freeway construction,” city spokesperson Christine Damko said in the video.

Detour signs on the 15 Freeway will direct drivers on Winchester Road to use Ynez Road and Jefferson Avenue, going south to enter the freeway from Rancho California Road.