Looming southbound I-680 closure won't dampen weekend St. Patrick's festivities in Dublin
Storm delays that pushed back a long-planned weekend closure of southbound Interstate 680 in Pleasanton might have a major impact on another East Bay event that has been on the calendar for months.
This weekend, the city of Dublin will commemorate 40 years of everything Irish with the annual St. Patrick's Day Celebration.
"You know, the city comes out in droves for this festival," said Shari Jackman, who works on the yearly celebration. "And we are always delighted to have people come from far and wide."
A lot of festivals have come and gone over the years, but Dublin is about to host its 40th St. Patrick's Day Celebration with a full weekend of festivities. The party includes a two-day festival presenting Irish music, food and crafts, a 5K Shamrock Fun Run and Walk, a gala, a firefighters' pancake breakfast, and a parade on St. Patrick's Day. There will also be a special 200-drone light show Saturday evening.
Jackman says it's all systems go, despite the big inconvenience looming just beyond the fairgrounds. And they've been telling everyone about it.
"We personally publicized this so that people are aware that this closure is happening," Jackman explained. "So we don't want any surprises."
The weekend Caltrans closure will shut down southbound I-680 from the I-580 interchange all the way down to Highway 84 for a repaving project. That means the southern flow of traffic will be shut off across Pleasanton down to Sunol.
"That's when everybody starts taking the back roads to the 84 Calaveras," said Anthony Alvarado of Sunol Corners Market.
Alvarado is expecting the backroads to get slammed this weekend, Good news for his business, he says.
"The weekend is usually our busiest time," he explained. "I can see a lot of people traveling, trying to get where they're going. Just traffic is killing them so they want to relax, take a rest or something like that. A breather."
"All entrances into Dublin will be open," Jackman said of the closures. "So people should come out."
St. Patrick's Day Festival organizers are upbeat and not expecting any problems from the I-680 closure.
"They didn't ask us if they could close the freeways," Jackman laughed. "But you know, we are all in good spirits. Because this is such a fantastic weekend for us, always."
Caltrans says the weekend repaving blitz will accomplish what would otherwise take four full nighttime closures.