Highway 101 has reopened since the high-voltage lines fell on the freeway, but crews will once again close the roadway tonight to make further repairs.
From Sunday night, at 10 p.m., until Monday morning, at 4 a.m., 101 will be closed again in both directions as PG&E crews continue work on the power lines. According to the CHP, southbound lanes will be closed from Millbrae Avenue in Millbrae to Poplar Avenue in San Mateo, while northbound lanes will be closed from Anza Boulevard to Broadway in Burlingame.
PG&E crews will be erecting a temporary transmission tower and restringing the lines across the freeway. The trouble started on Friday night when a crane working on a roadway improvement project crashed into a transmission tower and sent the wires crashing down onto cars. The freeway wound up being closed for 17 hours as crews de-energized the high-voltage lines and cleared the mess.
Although the initial incident caused a power surge in the area, no blackouts were reported and power was never shut down anywhere as a result of the repairs. No loss of power will be expected tonight, either. "The crews will be able to work around having to shut down electricity," PG&E spokeswoman Evelyn Escalera told the San Jose Mercury News.
The freeway may have to be shut down again at a future date in order to move the wires to a more permanent tower.