Bad place to be this weekend
The Golden Gate Bridge is known around the world, and the Bay Bridge enjoys at least regional renown. But Doyle Drive, the narrow and seismically fragile approach to the Golden Gate, is not so familiar, except to those who drive it daily, undoubtedly cursing its existence as they cross.
That lack of fame has transportation officials concerned that motorists, including tourists and day-trippers, will ignore the warnings of this weekend’s 57-hour closure and demolition of Doyle Drive and cause a terrible tangle of traffic on 19th Avenue and Highway 1, the San Francisco approach to the bridge that will remain
open.
“It can’t handle the volume,” said Molly Graham, spokeswoman for the Presidio Parkway, the $1.1 billion Doyle Drive replacement project. “On your average weekend, the 19th Avenue corridor is already congested. You can imagine what it could be like this weekend.”
The 1.6-mile approach, which opened along with the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, will close for good at 8 p.m. Friday between Marina Boulevard/ Richardson Avenue and Highway 1. Demolition crews will then go to work on the elevated concrete structure. Using 40 hydraulic hammers, cranes and other heavy equipment hauled in from across the country, they’ll punch holes in the 10 football fields worth of road deck, then rip apart the girders and support beams and chop down 280 concrete columns.
Temporary bypass
Next they’ll complete a temporary bypass at ground level that will travel behind the Sports Basement building, crossing where Doyle Drive now stands, and connect with the newly constructed southbound tunnel and viaduct. The temporary route will be used for three years while workers build the northbound tunnel and viaduct and a direct connection to the Presidio.
The plan is to complete the work, and open the temporary detour to the motoring public,
“The 19th Avenue
corridor is already
at 5 a.m. Monday.
Workers have already removed the light posts and the sidewalk from Doyle Drive in preparation for the demolition. Equipment is parked beneath the doomed roadway and crews have installed most of the movable concrete barrier that will separate traffic on the approach.
The barrier will be moved twice a day to dedicate three lanes to the busiest direction of traffic. Traffic on Doyle Drive is separated only by plastic stakes and, occasionally, an empty lane. Its narrow lanes and configuration have earned it one of the Federal Highway Administration’s lowest safety ratings.
“There will be no more possibility of head-on collisions,” Graham said of the barrier. “We’re reaching two milestones this weekend: seismic safety by demolishing Doyle Drive, and traffic safety with the movable barrier.”
Caltrans construction manager Dave Pang said the noisy and incessant weekend work will provide an opportunity for nearby residents to get away and for others to “stay away.”
Roads will be open in the Crissy Field area for local traffic, but are likely to be backed up.
“It’s a massive amount of demolition and construction to do in a weekend,” he said. “There’s going to be a lot of congestion and a lot of equipment.”
Advice to drivers
Transportation officials are advising people traveling between the North Bay and San Francisco to take the Golden Gate Ferry, which will run additional service, or to head to the East Bay and take the Bay Bridge. Tourists would be best off bicycling to the bridge, Graham said. Drivers who insist on crossing the Golden Gate should take California Street or Geary Boulevard across town to Highway 1 — and should be prepared for a slog.
The Giants are in town this weekend, and Sunday is Opening Day on the Bay, the traditional start of sailing season. Graham said parkway officials are aware of the conflicts but wanted to get the closure done before Memorial Day weekend, the Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th anniversary celebration and the summer travel season.
“We know we’re interfering with some events,” Graham said. “We’re just hoping most people will stay away from the area.” creates an REC every time it generates a megawatt-hour of electricity. That REC can be sold to utilities along with the electricity, or the REC and the electricity can be sold separately. If one utility buys the REC, however, the company that buys the electricity can’t claim any environmental benefit from buying the power. Utilities use the RECS to fulfill their renewable power requirements under California law. However, RECS purchased under the Green Option program will be over and above the state requirement.
Matt Freedman, staff attorney for The Utility Reform Network watchdog group, said only long-term REC purchases can make a difference in helping renewable power projects build new plants. Otherwise, whoever buys the RECS is simply paying for a project that would have been built anyway, or already has been built.
“These short-term purchases don’t make any difference,” Freedman said. “They just fatten the bottom line of the project developers.”