This June, the Seattle Department of Transportation is starting months-long repairs and improvements, including painting, a seismic retrofit and new lighting, to the Ballard Bridge that will cause some detours for vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles.

The Ballard Bridge painting project, which will last from June until December, will necessitate the closure of the east side of the bridge to pedestrians and bicyclists for that time period, the Seattle Department of Transportation's Connie Zimmerman said at the June 9 Ballard District Council meeting.

Zimmerman said the seismic retrofit, which will start in 2011 after the painting project, will have less of an impact on bridge traffic.

As much of the work as possible will be done from work platforms to the side of the bridge or from below the bridge, though some lane closures will be necessary, she said.

As part of preparing for future earthquakes, the Department of Transportation will make improvements to the bridge's diaphragms, roadway dowels, seat extenders and columns.

The project is estimated at $7.6 million, which will come from the Bridging the Gap Levy.

There will be lighting changes made to the bridge during the seismic retrofit, though it is not clear what the nature of the changes will be at this point.

During the summer, the Department of Transportation will be installing four new lighting poles on the southeast stretch of the bridge to replace two poles that failed in recent earthquakes and two more that look ready to fail.