Weekend Hwy 101 closure on the Peninsula on track for Monday reopening
SAN CARLOS -- Caltrans on Saturday was in the midst of a 55-hour closure of the southbound lanes of Highway 101 between Brittan Ave. and Whipple Ave. on the Peninsula.
Crews were at work replacing the Cordilleras Creek Bridge, which was built in the 1930s, according to Caltrans spokesperson Pedro Quintana.
"It has reached its life service," he said. "What we need to do is go out there, demolish the old bridge and build a new bridge along the U.S. 101 corridor."
The plan is to replace the triple box culvert with a single-span bridge.
Quintana advised motorists to avoid southbound 101 in this area through the weekend or to consider taking public transit if possible.
"Please be patient with us. We know this is very inconvenient for them to maneuver around this closure – the SB 101 closure – but, at the end of the day, we just want to make sure our highway systems are safe for travelers," he said.
In two weeks, starting Oct.13, the northbound lanes here will shut down for the entirety of a weekend as well. Quintana says the inconvenience now will mean fewer nightly closures for this project in the long run.
"Typically these bridge-replacement projects take about three years to complete. With these closures, we're condensing that three-year timeline into about 18 months," he said.
Doing the bulk of the work this way, he says, will be safer for crews and for drivers.
Caltrans is on schedule to reopen the highway before 5 a.m. on Monday.