AGATE PASS — After sustaining damage when a boom on a truck scraped through its superstructure April 25, 2006, the Agate Pass Bridge will receive much needed repair work and new support beams March 4-29.

In order to ensure the replacement can be conducted safely, the bridge will be closed completely from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays throughout the project, said Washington State Department of Transportation spokeswoman Kelly Stowe.

“What the bridge crews are going to do is cut out and replace three overhead beams that were damaged when the oversized load came through,” she said. “They need to close the bridge completely to do this safely.”

Originally, the bridge was scheduled to close for 21 days, but WSDOT officials decided the impact to Kitsap residents would be too great, Stowe said. To lessen the impact further, crews will open the bridge to traffic at three different times during the night — 11:30 p.m., 1 a.m. and 2:30 a.m. — for about 15-20 minutes so motorists needing access to Bainbridge Island or the North End can get through.

“I personally took a lot of calls regarding this closure,” Stowe said. “We took them into consideration and decided to open the bridge a few times during the night.”

The Clearwater Casino, located on State Route 305, is already making plans to accommodate visitors and employees.

“We’re shuttling people wanting to catch a ferry down to the Kingston/Edmonds run,” said Port Madison Enterprises CEO Russell Steele. “We can work around the closure. During the December snowstorm and windstorm we put employees up at the hotel so we could stay operational. That’s an option we can look at.”

Kitsap Transit executive director Dick Hayes said his agency is also adjusting to the closures. With one lane open 4-6 a.m. and 8-10 p.m., right when early and late commuters are hitting the road, buses will have to compensate for the potential congestion.

“What we’ve done in the past is start buses that leave before 7 a.m. 10 minutes early, and we’ll be doing that again,” Hayes said. “We’ll send notices out to our riders like we always do, so they know the new schedule. We’re not too worried about the evening because we don’t have any runs during the times the bridge will be closed.”

Pedestrians and bicyclists needing to cross the bridge while it is closed will be allowed to do so, but only under the supervision of WSDOT officials, Stowe said. Emergency response crews needing to utilize the bridge will be able to do so at all times.

For more information on the closure, visit www.wsdot.wa.gov.