Westbound Bay Bridge to close Presidents Day weekend
FAIRFIELD — Solano County residents traveling into San Francisco on Presidents Day weekend will have to find an alternative to driving over the Bay Bridge.
The westbound Bay Bridge is to be closed for the Presidents Day weekend from 8 p.m. Feb. 17 to 5 a.m. Feb. 21, reopening in time to handle traffic for the work week. The eastbound Bay Bridge carrying traffic from San Francisco to Oakland will remain open, according to the state Department of Transportation.
A wild card to this construction schedule is the weather, since some of the work involves painting new striping. Rain could delay the bridge reopening for westbound traffic.
Caltrans will close the westbound lanes so it can construct a small detour near the toll plaza on the Oakland side. This detour will carry westbound traffic around a section where work needs to be done for the new, $6.3 billion eastern span of the Bay Bridge, Caltrans officials said. This new east span is to open in 2013.
Solano County residents driving to San Francisco on Interstate 80 that weekend can take the Richmond Bridge to San Rafael, then take Highway 101 over the Golden Gate Bridge. They can also take mass transit, with BART and the Vallejo Baylink Ferry offering additional trips. Please go to http://www.bart.gov to get more details on BART and http://www.baylinkferry.com to get more details on the ferry.
The need for a new eastern Bay Bridge span dates back to studies done in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Several Bay Area bridges have since been strengthened to better survive a quake, including the Benicia Bridge, the Carquinez Bridge and the western span of the Bay Bridge. But Caltrans determined that the eastern span of the Bay Bridge needs to be replaced.
Reach Barry Eberling at 427-6929, or beberling@dailyrepublic.net.
Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=133391
Posted by Barry Eberling
on Feb 6 2012.
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