The Brief:<\/p>\n
-Crews will close down two of three northbound lands of 19th Avenue in San Francisco for repairs this weekend. It’s the first of three scheduled closures.<\/p>\n
What we know:<\/p>\n
Last week it was I-80 along the east side of San Francisco that was shut down. \u00a0Now drivers on the city’s west side are preparing for major roadwork on one of the busiest streets.
19th Avenue is one of the busiest streets in San Francisco carrying traffic north and south on the city’s west side. This weekend that northbound traffic is going to have to find a different route.\u00a0
19th carries an estimated 66,000 vehicles per day.
It’s an often bumpy ride, with potholes and cracks along the route. Now, Caltrans is set to begin the first of three major road closures to repair, resurface and repave.
All but one northbound lane on 19th Ave. will be closed between Sloat Blvd. and Lincoln Way from 7am Friday to 5am Monday. “We’re gonna have two lanes closed,” said Caltrans spokesperson Pedro Quintana. “We have one lane open at all times for local access for emergency vehicles and also for our buses as well.”
Some drivers said they’re all for it, given the current state of 19th. “It’s so bumpy, I scrape my bumper all the time and you know, that costs money,” said Julian Ruiz.
Other drivers said while the road may not be in the best condition, the work will cause backups and headaches when it comes to crossing north on the city’s west side. “It could be better,” said Stan. “There’s definitely stretches where it could use updates. But, closing it down for a whole weekend is probably not the best idea.”
Some businesses along 19th are worried about the impact the closure could have.
Michael Chen from Guilin Rice Noodles House said he received no official notice of the closure. He wants customers to know he will remain open, and since there may be fewer drop in customers, he’s asking diners to show up and support him. He said this is the latest hit after businesses had to endure the years long L Taraval rail project. “After the L, they’ve finished, it picked up a little bit,” Chen said about business. “More business right now. Especially weekends, we’re really, really busy. But I hope they do it as soon as possible, they fix 19th Avenue.”
Caltrans said while there is no convenient time to shut down traffic along 19th, the work is necessary. The agency said it worked hard to take this massive project and compress it into three weekends. “Again, there is never a really good time to shut down a major thoroughfare like 19th Avenue,” Quintana said. “But, we need to get the work done. 5:38 What we’re doing is reducing about 40 working days into just 10 days.”
Caltrans is urging drivers to seek alternate routes, like Sunset Blvd, to avoid the inevitable slowdowns.<\/p>\n
What’s next–<\/p>\n
This is only the first of three planned lane closures along 19th Ave.\u00a0
Crews will be working on the southbound lanes the weekend of May 8th.\u00a0
And a final closure along north and southbound 19th Ave. between Sloat Blvd. and Holloway Ave. starting May 22nd.
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