After months of anticipation and preparation, the temporary closure of the Bay Bridge during the Labor Day weekend has arrived.
The closure will begin at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, September 3rd and will continue on until 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday, September 8th. The long-planned closure will take place in order to replace a section of the bridge east of the Yerba Buena Island Tunnel, to connect the bridge to a short, temporary detour. Traffic will then flow on this detour until the new bridge opens.
Construction on the Bay Bridge will take place to make the structure of the bridge suitable to fit earthquake standards.
Though closing a bridge that serves hundreds of thousands of drivers a day is bound to cause inevitable complications, Caltran, along with The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, are doing their best to lessen these complications. Muni messages have been distributed in the forms of flyers and fact sheets, along with announcements on the radio and electronic posting all throughout the City.
Mayor Gavin Newsom stated that, “replacing the entire eastern span to make it seismically safe is an essential and unprecedented construction feat. By encouraging people to taking transit, stay home or, if they must drive, build in extra time for expected traffic delays, the City is working with Caltrans to keep the public inconvenience to a minimum.”
The public has been encouraged to take alternate driving routes and to take public transportation.
Drivers can use other bridges to make their weekend trips: The Golden Gate Bridge, San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, and the Dumbarton Bridge.
Bart will operate on special overnight service from Friday through Monday at 14 different stations, and will also add more trains to accommodate the extra amount of passengers expected. Four of the 14 stations include Embarcadero, Powell, 24th Street, and SFO.
From Monday through Friday, AC Transit will drop off and pick up passengers heading to and coming from San Francisco at Coliseum/Oakland Airport, MacArthur, North Berkeley and West Oakland stations.
The Golden Gate, Vallejo Baylink, and Alameda/Oakland Ferries will also do its part to run extra services from Saturday to Monday.
For the latest information public transportation alternatives, visit 511.org.
For more information on the Labor Day Bridge Closure, visit baybridgeinfo.org.
