Highway 101 Through SF Is Closed Again This Weekend — for the Last Time
We’re going to duck when we tell you this: Highway 101 through San Francisco will be closed again this weekend, for the fourth time in less than two months.
But Caltrans said this weekend really does represent the last 101 closure — for this particular repaving project at least.
Starting the night of Friday, Nov. 6, over a mile of 101 near Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital will be fully closed to all southbound traffic. The highway won’t reopen until early morning on Monday, Nov. 9.
These closures on what’s known as the “Hospital Curve” part of 101 will especially affect people driving from the East Bay or North Bay to the Peninsula and South Bay, and travelers trying to reach San Francisco International Airport by road.
(Courtesy of Caltrans)
But they’ll also impact people just wanting to travel through the city on those days.
Caltrans’ Bay Area public information officer Lori Shepherd said that drivers should know that these closures have “a major, major impact,” and that any travelers planning to drive in San Francisco during the closure should expect sizable delays getting through the city — not just around 101, but on surrounding streets and detours.
But if you really have to drive through San Francisco this weekend, what should you know about timing, detours and delays? Keep reading for what we know about navigating the upcoming 101 closure without having your weekend completely hijacked by traffic.
(And if you know someone who’s traveling to SFO from San Francisco by road this weekend, send this to them, too.)
Where and when will southbound 101 through San Francisco be closed?
All southbound lanes on 101 between 17th and Cesar Chavez streets will be closed to traffic.
The closure starts at 11 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6. All southbound lanes will reopen by 6 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 9.
Northbound 101 will remain open during the southbound closure.
I really need to drive south through San Francisco during the closures. What detour should I take?
While these 101 southbound lanes are closed, Caltrans recommends that motorists use I-280 southbound instead.
According to Caltrans, the following on-ramps will be blocked to drivers during the closure:
- Fourth Street on-ramp
- Seventh Street on-ramp
- 10th Street on-ramp
- The WB 80-NB 101 Central Freeway Connector
Read Caltrans’ list of suggested detours to get around this weekend’s 101 closures, or watch the agency’s video visualizing the detours:
What other parts of the city could be impacted by the closures?
Shepherd said the greatest traffic impacts from these closures could be felt around Cesar Chavez and 17th streets, as well as around Potrero Avenue — and also on entrances to I-280.
Caltrans is urging travelers, wherever possible, to take public transportation to travel through San Francisco during the highway closure, instead of using the roads.
It “really remains the best option to bypass congestion and work zone delays — because there will be some major delays getting through the city,” warned Shepherd. Delays from the closures could also have a knock-on effect on other routes through the city.
I feel like there’s been a ton of major road closures in San Francisco recently. What’s going on?
You’re not imagining it. The first northbound closures of this stretch of 101 took place Sept. 4-7, over the Labor Day holiday weekend, and Sept. 18-21. The southbound lanes were then closed Oct. 16-19, and will be again this weekend.
(And that’s without even mentioning the work taking place this year on nearby I-80, which was last closed Oct. 23-26.)
This weekend’s closure represents the last shutdown for 101 in Caltrans’ ongoing work on what the agency calls “the Fab 4”: 101’s Hospital Curve, I-280, the Central Freeway and 19th Avenue.
Caltrans’ Shepherd attributed the length of the multiple closures to the sheer scope of the “24-7” repaving work being undertaken on 101 at this time.
“It’s a major, massive project, if you can imagine, repaving the freeway,” she said, and Caltrans timed these closures “to do it with the least amount of impact on the public,” Shepherd said.
The concrete used in this kind of repaving work also needs the kind of dry conditions that fall in San Francisco brings. “There’s a lot of emphasis on getting work done — as much of it completed in the summer during the dry season as much as possible,” she said.
“It’s difficult, yes, for the traveling public to have to find ways around,” Shepherd said. “But in the end, it will produce long-term gains, because the road will be safer and smoother to drive [and] less prone to flooding.”
KQED’s Juan Carlos Lara contributed to this report.