The detour will allow construction of the new East Span's Oakland Touchdown to be completed ahead of schedule. Commuters will get to ride on the new bridge in both directions in 2013, just two years away now. To accomplish this phase, select eastbound lanes will be closed 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday May 28 and 29, lanes only not the entire bridge.
"On Memorial Day weekend we will be sliding all five lanes of traffic to the southern part of the bridge. And then in early 2012, we will build out the bridge structure that you are driving on right now and we will shift traffic onto that new structure. What this will allow us to do is come in and surgically remove the portion of the bridge that is in the way of the new bridge," said Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney.
Unlike the S-curve on the Bay Bridge, there will be no change in speed limit to use this detour.
You can check it out on baybridgeinfo.org/otd_detour before it happens, and if you have Apple iPhone or iPad or iPod Touch - check it out in 3D.
