San Francisco's O'Shaughnessy Blvd. Remains Closed For Rockslide Repairs
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – A stretch of road in San Francisco's Glen Park neighborhood is closed through Friday evening due to a rockslide, and drivers should expect a detour in the area, according to the city's Department of Public Works.
The closure of O'Shaughnessy Boulevard between Malta Court and Del Vale Avenue, which began Wednesday afternoon, was prompted by a small rockslide that occurred during last weekend's rainstorms.
The slide across from Glen Canyon Park caused only a brief closure at the time, but city officials brought in geotechnical engineers and geologists afterward who advised that the city should knock away some of the loose rocks near the top of the steep hillside on the west side of the road to avoid further rockslides.
Since more rain is expected, Public Works Director Mohammed Nuru declared an emergency to allow the work to begin immediately.
On Thursday, crews were chipping away at the cliffside, hoping to beat the forces of nature to the punch.
Contractors began scaling the hillside with crowbars Thursday morning to try and dislodge rocks at risk of falling. One particularly large boulder was of major concern and spurred the closure so work crews could try to bring the big rock down.
"They're kind of probing to see which one's loose, and when they find one that's loose they'll try to pry it out," said Raymond Lui with the San Francisco Public Works Department.
Local access will be allowed from Portola Drive to Del Vale Avenue and from Bosworth Street to Malta Court, but the area between Malta and Del Vale will be completely off-limits to drivers, pedestrians and cyclists and all traffic including buses will be detoured around the area.
Once they get rid of all the loose rocks they're going to put up new fencing to protect the roadway. Public works officials hope to have the work wrapped up by Friday evening.
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