August 11, 2005
Your Commute
All the Fastraks in the world can't save you now, as Caltrans proudly announces that it expects weekend Bay Bridge traffic to be backed up for the next year. What? Why? How? Well, in September, they're moving everyone driving in from Oakland onto a new skyway on the SF side, and then they're closing off the SF Harrison Street offramp for the next three years. After that, over 2006, they'll be tearing down half of the upper deck closest to the bridge on the SF side, and therefore closing off most of the eastbound onramps. Caltrans will be paying for additional BART service on the affected weekends.
.....but a fat lot of good all that BART service is going to do for you if you need to get to the South Bay! SamTrans is now refusing to pay for extra service down the Millbrae-SFO BART spur, so BART has been forced to cut back on rush-hour service to the airport and Caltrain. (Bummer, especially since they just recalibrated the Caltrain schedule to match up with BART.) You'll be getting less frequent BART service and shorter trains -- so it'll be time to cuddle up with all those other people trying to lug four suitcases apiece to SFO. Boo Samtrans. Why don't they just make everyone trying to get to the South Bay take one of those Wild West pump car trains or something too?
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Our SFist ombudsman (a dedicated commuter) has clarified the Bay Bridge construction situation for me, as follows:
*in September, everyone will be moved to a new skyway on the SF side, just past the Fremont St offramp,
which is not that new bridge being built over on the Oakland side (which is where we'll ultimately be moving at some point far, far, far off in the future).
and also:
what they're tearing down is the current skyway that leads us onto the bridge as we leave the City. With the new right-hand-side westbound skyway in place, the top level of the current double-decker skyway can come down. Next steps: move lower-level skyway traffic to atemporary eastbound structure (now in progress), tear down the rest of current skyway, build new structure for eastbound traffic, and finally, tear down temporary eastbound structure.
We totally need more clarity on what we call individual sections of the Bay Bridge! My apologies if I've confused anyone (and thanks to the Ombudsman for straightening me out!)
ANYWAYS, there's going to be a lot of work going on around the bridge. If anyone wants to further clarify, I'm all ears! (As I load up more money on my BART ticket.)
"We totally need more clarity on what we call individual sections of the Bay Bridge!" I accept the challenge.
The Bits O' the Bridge and Related Roadwayz, working from East to West, as they are usually referred to by commuters and the traffic wizards on KCBS: Macarthur Maze, Parking Lot, Toll Plaza, Metering Lights, Merge, Incline Section, Cantilever Section, Treasure Island Tunnel, Western Span (east of Center Anchorage), Center Anchorage, Western Span (west of Center Anchorage), I-80 Skyway.
That last bit is referred to as the "West Approach" by Caltrans, and has 3 more years of replacement construction to go. More info at http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/safer/
The "Incline Section" and the "Cantilever Section" comprise the "Eastern Span" which is being completely replaced by a new bridge. Said new bridge contains two sections, a viaduct portion that is mostly completed, and the fancy suspension span that will cover the last 1/2 mile to Treasure Island. It's that terribly expensive bit that will not be done till 2012, largely because the process of hooking a new bridge up to the existing tunnel while not disrupting traffic will require the construction of four (!) temporary elevated structures. More info on those crazy temporary structures here: http://www.newbaybridge.org/the_projects/ybi_transition_project.html