And so it goes again: beginning at 9 p.m. tonight – and continuing for months – extensive road repairs that will narrow or close parts of the Jones Falls Expressway and no doubt cause congestion.

Whew, seems like we just went through this! (It was actually back in the spring of 2012 that the last big – and expensive – project snarled the JFX: pipes had collapsed under the highway near 29th Street.)

Here’s what this $5 million city project will entail this time around:

• The rubber joints on JFX bridges between 41st Street in Woodberry and Fayette Street downtown are being replaced. This 10-month project will close two lanes on weeknights between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m. Southbound side first, then northbound.

• Damaged concrete barriers at the very sharp curve east of Penn Station on the northbound side are also being repaired. This will mean round-the-clock closure of the right lane for about 10 weeks.

• The ramp onto the highway from Madison Street and the Fallsway (near Central Booking) will also be closed around-the-clock starting tonight and lasting about 10 weeks.

This ramp serves heavy evening commuter traffic from East Baltimore, mostly from the Johns Hopkins Medical Center. Commuters will need to find alternative routes to the JFX, such as East Fayette Street, or try mass transit (Light Rail to Cockeysville or the Metro to Owings Mills).