Remember the potential "car-mageddon" we all worried about on Highway 101 near Alemany Circle before the coronavirus pandemic upended our collective existence? Well, Caltrans wisely decided to get a head start on the deck-replacement project ahead of its scheduled July timeframe, given that far fewer people are on the road right now, and now it's just about finished!

Yes, the silver linings abound, don't they? Well, there are a few. And in this case, as KRON 4 reports, the southbound 101 road deck reopened this morning, two days faster than was allotted for the project, and the northbound deck is expected to reopen to regular traffic by 3 p.m. on Saturday.

For the rest of today and into tomorrow, southbound traffic is reduced to two lanes while the northbound lane work is completed, and speeds are being reduced to 40 miles per hour.

As SFist reported earlier, the project originally set to begin on July 7 involves an 800-foot freeway bridge that dated back to 1950. While Caltrans found the columns and foundation supporting the overpass were still in decent shape, the 70-year-old road deck itself was due for replacement — both to create a smoother ride for commuters and to ensure that the road wouldn't become inoperable in an earthquake.

Earthquakes aren't exactly front-of-mind right now, but this work needed to get done and it did. And in normal times, this stretch of roadway sees 240,000 vehicles per day.

Here's the video that Caltrans made back in October trying to prepare everyone for traffic chaos with this project.

So much for car-mageddon!

Now if only all of the state's summer roadwork could get done in the next month, that would be swell.

Previously: Summertime 'Carmageddon' Fears Ignite Over 101 Deck Replacement Project in SF

Image via Caltrans YouTube channel