Caltrans says the current eyebar repair requires too much monitoring. It was put in place after the first fix came crashing down onto the upper deck. A new repair will be put in place over about three weeks, beginning as soon as this Friday night.
The work will be done overnight, the bridge will stay open, but on the westbound upper deck, the three left lanes will be closed at the following times:
Sunday - Thursday nights from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m.
Friday nights 11p.m. to 8 a.m.
Saturday nights 11:30 p.m. to 9:30 a.m.
Only the far right lane will be closed on the lower deck, beginning at the same time, but going a bit later in the mornings. The closures are on the eastern span only. The transit systems like BART are not adding service.
"Motorists expecting to use the Bay Bridge in the middle of the night while we're doing this work, should expect delays and should considering use other Bay Area bridges and definitely using the 511 system to plan their transportation routs," says Caltrans spokesperson Bart Ney.
The repair involves cutting away a 12-foot section of the 80-foot eyebar and splicing in a new piece of steel. Once done, there could still be one more piece of steel added, depending on how this fix performs. That could require five weeks of overnight work.
Ray Marks comes from the East Bay to San Francisco for his job that starts at 4:45 a.m. He says "I think they should have fixed it right the first time."
"As long as the bridge is safe for us to get across, nothing going fall on us, we're not going to get hurt, it's not going to fall down, I'm alright with that," said James Rainey, who uses the bridge to bring his girls to school.
Work start Friday night unless high winds or rain get in the way.
