Labor Day 2013: Going to the Bay Area? Bridge closure means a detour
The Bay Bridge that connects San Francisco and East Bay cities will be closed during Labor Day as the bridge gets ready for its official post-retrofit ribbon-cutting after the holiday.
The bridge will be closed from 8 p.m. Aug. 28 until 5 a.m. Sept. 3 so workers can take the old east span out of service and ready the new part of the bridge. About 300,000 drivers daily cross the bridge that connects San Francisco to Oakland, Berkeley and other cities.
So what’s the best way to get around? Ditch the car and take BART or a ferry instead.
The transit system plans to run trains at 14 stations -- El Cerrito del Norte, Downtown Berkeley, Concord, Walnut Creek, Bay Fair, 12th Street/Oakland City Center, MacArthur, Coliseum/Oakland Airport, Dublin/Pleasanton, Daly City, 24th Street Mission, Powell, Embarcadero and San Francisco Airport -- 24 hours a day while the bridge is closed. Ferries too will be increasing the number of trips they make across the bay.
The bridge, whose east span was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, has closed over Labor Day weekends in 2006, 2007 and 2009 to allow construction work when traffic is lightest. The $6.4-billion upgrade is expected to be completed after the holiday.
Though the bridge is closed, the 25,000 LED lights that form a dazzling light sculpture on the west span will go on. Some of the Bay Lights failed in June, prompting a team to start replacing many of them.
Mary.Forgione@latimes.com
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