Major Gridlock Grips San Francisco As Construction Begins On Super Bowl City
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Kickoff for Super Bowl 50 is still days away, but major gridlock has already arrived in San Francisco due to construction on Super Bowl City.
But what promises to be a football lover's dream, is turning into a car driver's nightmare.
Crews have started building the free-to-the-public fan village in Justin Hermann Plaza, prompting a slew of road closures and detours.
Gridlock has gripped The City, and it's not going to let go any time soon.
Saturday, frustrated drivers encountered road closures on the southbound Embarcadero and Market Street. The bumper-to-bumper traffic spilled over onto neighboring Battery Street, as cars were rerouted by an army of SFMTA workers in yellow vests.
Raul Mendez was one of the drivers who got stuck in traffic.
"It's really bad," he said. "I've been stuck here for about 20 minutes for four miles."
City transportation officials urge people to leave their cars at home and take public transit instead.
"We have service running throughout the city, throughout downtown and we believe that these plans will get people where they need to go," said San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesperson Paul Rose.
"We're urging people if you're coming into San Francisco and getting into the downtown area, please take public transit, walk, ride a bike, because it will be very congested on our streets."
As of Saturday, there's no driving on Washington Street to Don Chee Way, or Beale Street onto Market. No cars will be allowed on Howard between Third and Fourth Streets. Closures will vary as construction continues, all the way through the opening of Super Bowl City.
Street closures
And this is just the beginning. There will be traffic gridlock, detours, and closures from now until February 12th.
