GAINESVILLE — Dawsonville Highway drivers, rejoice.

That feeling of being raked over a washboard — the familiar clunk, clunk, clunk — is about to fade for those crossing the westbound Hwy. 53 bridge over the Chattahoochee arm of Lake Lanier from Gainesville.

And the work to fix the driving surface will be done overnight, easing roadwork traffic woes, though there will be lane closures on weekends.

The bridge was built in 1956 and last resurfaced in 1992.

Crews plan to start Monday by preparing a work space in the median of the highway, adding an asphalt base in the grassy median. This prep work will continue Monday through Thursday and require the inside westbound lane to close 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. each night.

Workers will put scaffolding together under the bridge Oct. 26, with no impact to traffic.

Work then begins on repairing the rough driving surface and installing a new epoxy coating to protect it.

Cover plates and bridge joints will be replaced, and the entire bridge will be painted to prevent rusting.

“This is a long-term fix instead of the Band-Aids we’ve been doing out there,” said DOT district spokeswoman Teri Pope.

Weekday work will require lane closures overnight 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. Weekend lane closures will start at 8 p.m. Friday and end 5 a.m. Monday. Work must be finished in 10 weekends.

Comanche Construction of Georgia in Marietta is contracted for the work at $2.94 million.