The water under Deception Pass Bridge may run uninterrupted during construction next month, but vehicles on the bridge itself won’t be so lucky.

Starting in June, commuters on both sides of Deception Pass bridge should prepare for delays and inconvenience resulting from  construction along State Highway 20.

The state Department of Transportation project includes five nights of complete closure of Deception Pass bridge in addition to two months of paving along Highway 20 that will limit traffic to one lane.

“It’s going to be a mess,” said Island County Public Works Director Bill Oakes. “They’re doing a lot of things to minimize it, but I want to get as much info out there as I can.”

“Full closure of the bridge is a big deal.”

EXACT DATES are not yet set, but planners anticipate five 10-hour overnight closures, from about 7-8 p.m. to 5-6 a.m. sometime in July, according to Tom Pearce with the state Transportation’s communications office.

Starting in June, four segments north and south of the park will be repaved. The entire project is expected to take around two months.

“People are just going to have to plan around it,” Oakes said. “Even the single-lane closures will gum up the works and cause significant delays.”

Oakes said that the stretch of highway between Oak Harbor and the bridge is one of the county’s most traversed roads.

APPROXIMATELY 17,000 vehicles cross the Deception Pass bridge each day, a number that does not seem significant if compared to the 217,000 cars that pass through Seattle’s Interstate 5 corridor daily, or the 147,000 that cross the Interstate 90 floating bridge, according to Pearce.

Still, Pearce said, “17,000 is significant if you’re one of the 17,000.”

Once set, Pearce said, all paving projects will be “entirely weather dependent.”

“Rain is probably the big concern,” he said.

In addition, if the temperature on the bridge drops too low overnight, paving would have to be delayed.

Pearce said Transportation is doing its best to mitigate the effects, including coordinating the project to ensure that it doesn’t bump up against the closure and repaving of Dike Road in July.

The plan calls for completing the two Whidbey Island segments first, then paving on either side of the bridge, finishing paving segments on Fidalgo Island and then returning to close and pave the bridge last, according to Pearce.

A NUMBER of sailors and civilians who work at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station who live off island in Anacortes and Mount Vernon will likely be affected by the closures, said Mike Welding, the base’s public information officer.

“We’ve already started passing it out to the work force so people understand the potential impacts,” Welding said.

Steve Lesher, a spokesman for the Shell Puget Sound Refinery in Anacortes, said they don’t expect the bridge closure itself to have a “pronounced” effect on its workers but are working one-on-one with employees who may be delayed during the project.

“That part we’ll notify folks en masse and people can work with their supervisors,” Lesher said.

COMING AT the height of tourist season, visitors to the state’s most popular park — which saw 2.7 million guests in 2014 — are likely to experience some frustration.

Deception Pass State Park Manager Jack Hartt said his team is trying to find ways to contact campers arriving during the bridge work to ensure they arrive at their camps before the bridge is closed.

“So that’s a big deal,” Hartt said.

Another issue is ensuring that day visitors are not trapped on wrong side of the bridge, Hartt said.

DURING THE five nights when the bridge is closed, Hartt said he will need to split his overnight staff of five or six and place them on either side of the bridge to ensure that all maintenance and emergencies can be addressed.

“We’re working with local EMS,” Hartt said. “They’re facing the same challenges, but for us it’s up close and personal.”

As far as the delays resulting from the one-lane closures along Highway 20, Hartt said that will affect his staff less than it will visitors and commuters.

However, it’s a necessary inconvenience, he said.

“Our infrastructure needs to be maintained,” Hartt said.

“We all need to share in that misery of waiting in line. That’s the price of keeping our roads nice.”