Heads up: I-80 westbound to Bay Area will shut down Thursday night through Labor Day
VALLEJO -- A major bridge closure will impact all traffic headed westbound to the Bay Area on Interstate 80 in Vallejo beginning Thursday.
The work is part of the Caltrans Contra Costa I-80 Paving Project.
Starting at 9:00 p.m., all westbound traffic on I-80 will be shut down through Monday, Labor Day. The closure is expected to be lifted by 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday in time for the morning commute.
"If you can avoid the area, that is going to be the best bet," said Bart Ney, a Caltrans spokesperson.
Crews are closing the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge in Vallejo for a major facelift.
"So traffic will be getting off of I-80 at I-780 going across Vallejo and Benicia over to the 680 and then returning back to the 80 once you are past Pinole," Ney said.
The detour is expected to route approximately 200,000 cars off of I-80 from Thursday night through Monday.
"If you are coming from Sacramento, we won't route you into the Bay Area. Take I-5 and stay out of the way," Ney said.
Caltrans crews will be paving miles of concrete, laying asphalt and making repairs on the bridge and beyond.
CBS13 asked why this was being done on a holiday weekend.
"The reason is, the traffic patterns in the Bay Area are much lighter on Labor Day weekend," Ney said.
Ney added that this decision brings a faster and safer turnaround for road crews. It also means drivers don't have to deal with the detours as long.
"We basically took 106 nights of closures and shrunk them into a 4-day weekend," Ney said.
The main message for those who can: avoid I-80 westbound through the holiday weekend.
Ney said there's an interesting Labor Day tie-in for the bridge on its 20th anniversary.
"It's the only major bridge in California named after a blue collar worker, Al Zampa, and it's Labor Day," he said. "So it's like we are getting to celebrate a laborer on Labor Day, giving him the day off."
Eastbound traffic on I-80 will not be impacted by the closures.
Anyone with questions or concerns about the project is encouraged to call the CC I-80 Paving Project information hotline at (510) 286-0319.
For real-time traffic information, visit the Caltrans QuickMap website.