Block of Van Ness will close for 3 days

A block of alwaysbusy Van Ness Avenue will shut down again for 72 hours beginning Friday while construction crews work on a pedestrian tunnel for the new California Pacific Medical Center campus.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday, Van Ness Avenue, which also serves as Highway 101, will close between Geary Boulevard and Post Street in both directions. It is scheduled to reopen at 11:59 p.m. Sunday.

However, Muni and Golden Gate Transit buses and emergency vehicles will be allowed access, and pedestrians will be permitted to use the sidewalk on one side of the street.

Detours will take drivers around the closure, primarily using recommended routes on Larkin, Franklin and Gough streets. Traffic control officers and flaggers will staff the detours.

Parking restrictions will be in effect on Franklin and Gough streets. Local residents and merchants will be allowed inside the detour zone between Pine and Ellis streets.

The shutdown is the last of three for construction of a tunnel to connect the new 274-bed hospital and a medical office building that will sit on opposite sides of Van Ness.

The first two took place in April, causing congestion but no major problems.

Drivers will also have to navigate closures and detours at and around the Fourth and King streets intersection on Saturday.

That intersection has been partially closed, forcing transit and traffic detours, since Nov. 6. It is expected to reopen Sunday morning.

Live traffic updates and information will be available on 511.org or by following @Herrero BOLDT, @CaltransD4 and @sfmta_muni on Twitter.