Caltrans said Sunday its paving work on Interstate 80 is more than half-way through. But drivers will still be taking detour routes until the highway opens back up on Tuesday.
“Normally, we would take the Bay Bridge and head over that, but it said, ‘due to road closure, we’re going to take you a different route,’ “ said Robert Mains, who was driving to San Francisco from Sacramento Sunday.
He knew he wouldn’t take the usual route and did make the best of it, but it still meant more time on the road this holiday weekend.
“20 to 30 minutes,” said Mains. “And when you think about that in terms of percentage, that’s a big percentage! So it’s definitely affecting things.”
A stretch of westbound Interstate 80, from Interstate 780 in Vallejo to Highway 4 in Hercules, has been closed since Thursday night for a major Caltrans paving effort.
“We’re well into it,” said Bart Ney, a Caltrans spokesperson. “We’re about halfway through with the concrete paving.”
The work is expected to improve things for drivers and for the road, as well as last a long time. Caltrans has justified doing the project over Labor Day weekend by pointing to a drop in Bay Area traffic.
“Traffic is not so bad on Sunday, but we do expect it to pick up on Monday,” said Ney. “So motorists coming through the area, if they can stay out and use Interstate 5 and not come down into this space, you will avoid that congestion.”
The closed section of freeway is expected to reopen at around 5 a.m. Tuesday, according to Ney.
Source: NBC Bay Area
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