Over Memorial Day weekend, a stretch of Interstate Highway 280 in San Francisco will be closed to replace a hinge on the roadway in the first of three slated closures totaling 312 hours this year, according to Caltrans officials.
The first closure for the replacement project is scheduled for May 22-27. Southbound Highway 280 will be closed between downtown San Francisco and the Pennsylvania Avenue on-ramp.
Signs went up on the highway late last week to start alerting motorists about the upcoming closures on certain ramps and highways.
One bridge hinge will be replaced on southbound I-280, which will be closed for the start of construction work at 9 p.m. on May 22. The highway is anticipated to reopen by 5 a.m. on May 27.
Caltrans spokesman Allyn Amsk said crews are “going to work as quickly as we can” to open the road ahead of schedule.
The southbound closures include the Mariposa Street/18th Street, Sixth Street/Brannan, and King Street on-ramps.
Motorists are advised to take U.S. Highway 101 as a detour.
Amsk said there will be detour signs with directions on how to get to Highway 101 at the closed ramps.
Northbound Highway 280 will remain open during the Memorial Day weekend closure.
However, the northbound lanes will be closed on the Fourth of July holiday weekend starting July 3 and over the Labor Day holiday weekend starting on Aug. 28.
Those closures will allow work on three bridge hinges on the roadway.
Hinges connect two parts of a bridge and allow for expansion and contraction on both sides of the road, as well as for movement during an earthquake, according to Caltrans.
Crews will be demolishing concrete around old bridge hinges, removing it and installing a new hinge.
According to Caltrans officials, the work cannot be efficiently completed during overnight closures and demands consecutive days of construction.
More information about the Highway 280 closures is available at www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/projects/280Bridge.
Sasha Lekach, Bay City News
