Those planning to drive over the Bay Bridge toward San Francisco this holiday weekend will need to make alternate travel plans, as the bridge’s upper deck will be closed starting tonight to allow for construction work.

SFBayBridge.jpgThose planning to drive over the Bay Bridge toward San Francisco this holiday weekend will need to make alternate travel plans, as the bridge’s upper deck will be closed starting tonight to allow for construction work.

Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said that the closure will allow crews to construct a detour near the toll plaza and to stripe lanes and place a guide rail along the route.

The detour carrying westbound traffic will shift traffic to the south of its existing path, making room for construction crews that need to demolish sections of the existing roadway that are in the path of the yet-to-be-built inclined section that will carry eastbound traffic from the new east span of the bridge.

The bridge’s upper deck will be closed from 8 p.m. today until 5 a.m. Tuesday, although weather could delay the deck’s reopening. Eastbound traffic, carried on the lower deck, will be unaffected by the closure.

Vehicle travel between Treasure Island and San Francisco will also be unaffected, according to bridge officials.

Alternatives for crossing the Bay include taking BART, which will run overnight service at 14 stations during the closure, hopping a ferry from the East Bay or Vallejo, or taking the Richmond-San Rafael, San Mateo-Hayward or Dumbarton bridges.

AC Transit, which will not operate over the bridge during the closure, will provide regular service in the East Bay by connecting to and from the West Oakland BART station.

More information can be found at bart.gov, actransit.org, eastbayferry.com and baylinkferry.com.

During the closure, motorists are recommended to check the Bay Bridge website–baybridgeinfo.org–for updates and to visit 511.org or call 511 for real-time traffic conditions and information on detours and public transit.

Patricia Decker, Bay City News

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