Planning on heading north into San Francisco on 280 this weekend? Well, change those plans, because starting tonight and running until Monday morning, you can't.
Tonight at 9 p.m. northbound Interstate Highway 280 (we use its full name when it's causing trouble) will close between its interchange with 101 and its Fifth Street exit. Caltrans officials say that the stretch won't reopen until 5 a.m. on Monday, July 7.
This closure, the second of three planned for 2014, is intended to allow crews to replace a damaged bridge hinge on 280 between Cesar Chavez and 24th Streets.
According to a Caltrans engineer who spoke with KCBS, four broken hinges, all of which are supposed to enable the highway to expand and contract during strong movements like earthquakes, were discovered along 280 during a regular inspection.
The on-ramps to 280 that will be closed for the next five days are Alemany Boulevard, the 101 connector to northbound 280, Indiana Street and 18th Street. (Edited to add, at the implicit request of commenter Roymeo, that obviously the northbound off-ramps at Cesar Chavez, Mariposa, 6th Street, and King Street will be closed as well.) Southbound 280 will remain open, and motorists are encouraged to use Highway 101 instead.
If this closure is like the previous one on Memorial Day weekend, expect snarled traffic and long waits in the area regardless of your route. According to ABC7, given the crowds that are drawn to San Francisco for the Fourth of July fireworks show, "for the people that do drive, it's going to be horrendous."
Things might be more than a little bit noisy for those who live in the area of the construction, too, as crews will be pulverizing concrete around the old hinge, yanking the broken hinge out, and wedging a new one into place.
According to Caltrans, we're not done after this weekend's closure: a third I-280 closure is planned for the Labor Day holiday weekend.
