The Virginia Department of Transportation will introduce a system of variable speed limits on a short stretch of the Capital Beltway today in an effort to move commuters through areas of construction safely and swiftly.

The initiative will go into effect during nighttime hours for a two-mile section of Interstate 495 around the intersection of Telegraph Road, which has lost two lanes as part of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project and will be the subject of additional lane closures.

By incrementally reducing the speed limit as necessary, VDOT officials hope to cut the number of collisions and bottlenecks that occur when high-speed traffic meets a narrower roadway. The plan, VDOT said, will also make work zones safer for construction workers.

“Implementing [variable speed limits] at the Telegraph Road Interchange promises to ease the way for travelers during construction, and it will serve as an excellent test bed for possible deployment elsewhere and for additional purposes,” Ronaldo “Nick” Nicholson, VDOT’s Wilson Bridge Project manager and director of regional transportation programs for the agency, said in a statement.