Bay Bridge Upper Deck Will Close President's Day

Finding a way into San Francisco from the East Bay will take some planning come President's Day weekend.

President's Day weekend would normally pass on by without much of a stir, but this year it comes with the very rare closure of the upper deck of the Bay Bridge.

All westbound lanes will be closed from Friday, Feb. 17 at 8 p.m. until Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 5 a.m.  That means you can leave the City, but you won't be able to get back without doing a southern circular swing of the Bay.

Caltrans says the reason for the upper deck closure is to allow construction crews to create a detour. Right now, the bridge's current westbound lanes stand in the path of the new lanes.

The detour will shift traffic heading into San Francisco to the south of its existing lanes. Once the shift is complete, construction crews will start demolishing the existing lanes in order to make room for the new span. Caltrans put together a graphic to explain the change which can be found at this link.

Caltrans warns that the work is weather-dependent. Bad weather could push back the closure or delay the Tuesday morning opening.

The real test will come Tuesday when drivers will have to navigate the new configuration.

The new easter span is scheduled to open by late 2013.

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