LOS ANGELES — Drivers who plan to take the 101 freeway through downtown this weekend will need to plan an alternate route. The Los Angeles Bureau of Engineering announced Wednesday that U.S. Route 101 through downtown will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday until 3 p.m. Sunday.

The closure will be along a 2-½-mile section of the 101 from where it splits with Interstate 10 in Boyle Heights to the interchange of Interstate 5, Interstate 10 and Route 101 just east of downtown. Motorists traveling west from Pomona on Route 60 will not be able to access the 101 during this weekend’s closure.

It is the second time the Bureau of Engineering has needed to close the 101 freeway for a weekend to work on the Sixth Street Viaduct Replacement Project, which is being upgraded because the original was seismically deficient. This weekend’s closure is to remove bridge falsework under the viaduct safely.

The first time the 101 was closed to accommodate bridge construction was in late October, and the work was scheduled to take 41 hours but fully reopened after just 26 hours.