Motorists trying to get to and from downtown Joliet now have another roadblock.

The city on Thursday advised motorists to avoid the Jefferson Street bridge, the main entryway to downtown from the West Side, because of emergency sewer repair work shutting down lanes approaching the bridge.

The repairs started on Thursday and are expected to continue through April 3, meaning the lane closures will continue through all of the next work week.

All but one lane will be shut down from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Jefferson Street from Hickory Street to the Des Plaines River, constricting traffic on its way to the bridge.

A second lane will be open after 5 p.m.

“Drivers are encouraged to seek alternative routes for the duration of the work,” according to a city news release on the lane closures.

Joliet motorists have grown accustomed to seeking alternative routes because of frequent shutdowns in recent years for maintenance and upgrades at the five downtown drawbridges.

The Jefferson Street bridge will remain open during the emergency sewer repairs. But motorists may find it hard to get there with four lanes leading up to the bridge reduced to one during the busy daytime traffic hours.

The lane closures are due to “emergency sanitary sewer repairs,” according to the release.

The lane closures on Jefferson Street come while the main eastbound route out of downtown has been shut down for months, while the state does maintenance work on the Cass Street bridge.

Both the Cass Street and Jefferson Street bridges are one-way routes.

The city will maintain access to Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park, which lies on both sides of Jefferson Street along the Des Plaines River.

But the city advised park visitors to use caution when trying to enter the park and to stay out of the construction zone set off by a fence and cones.