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A new bike bridge over U.S. Highway 101 in Palo Alto is set to take shape later this week when crews install steel segments of the crossing, which will require overnight road closures.
Two prefabricated steel segments will go up for the Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge Project, which will connect south Palo Alto with the Baylands year-round. The new structure will replace the Benjamin Lefkowitz underpass, which is typically closed during the winter and part of spring due to flooding.
Starting Thursday night, crews are scheduled to install a 100-foot-long steel section across West Bayshore Road near Adobe Creek. The work will block West Bayshore from 8 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, during which time a detour will be in place. Southbound lanes of the freeway between San Antonio and Embarcadero roads also will be blocked during the same time period.
On Friday, another 100-foot-long section will be installed over East Bayshore Road, which is scheduled to be closed from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. A detour during the temporary shutdown can be found here. It will coincide with the closure of northbound lanes of Highway 101 between San Antonio and Embarcadero.
The city recommends the public expect delays when traveling through the area and give themselves more time during their trip.
The installation of a third segment, which will stretch across the freeway, is expected to happen sometime in May. The segment is a “unique oversized overload, and its transport route and permitting are still under review,” the city said in an April 21 announcement. The bridge section will come to Palo Alto from Arizona and involve an escort from the California Highway Patrol.
The work was initially scheduled in February, but was delayed due to the “technical transport/permitting issue,” the city said at the time.
The project is estimated to be completed on July 26. More information can be found at cityofpaloalto.org.
View maps of the closures on West Bayshore and East Bayshore roads here:
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
Bay City News Service contributed to this report.
Yay bridge! This crossing will replace the worst part of my bike commute from Mountain View to Newark, San Antonio crossing over 101. With the Adobe bridge and the Ravenswood trail project closing the gap between the baylands and the Dumbarton bridge, the bike infrastructure along my route has really improved in a few short years. Nearly all of my 16 mile commute is on trails or bike-lanes. This makes it a far more attractive option than my single occupant vehicle.
This has had delays and I along with many others are missing the convenience of the tunnel. Will this be open in July?
Access to the Baylands has been a lifesaver for many and people are using the trails much more than prepandemic times. Parking has been very difficult and the sooner pedestrians can walk to the Baylands from south Palo Alto the safer they will be.
We Palo Altans only accept the very best…because we deserve the very best, and cost is never an issue because we’re all rich people who can afford it. (Yes, my tongue was in my cheek when I wrote that!). The homeless people (600+ by current count) and the thousands of minimum wage earners who work here every day, but can’t afford to live here, will probably never use that bridge. I think the calculated total cost, $23 million, would go a long way to help them out. I’m happy for those cyclists who will use the bridge if it makes their commute easier, but for those weekend warriors, the elitists who bike for exercise, but who also have a Lexus and a Tesla parked in their 3 car garages, then shame on you for foisting this on the taxpayers. I’m just guessing, but I bet that only 1%, maybe 2% (650-1300) of our PA residents will ever use that bridge. Okay, add onto the cost, the price of a people counter who will also ask the question “Why are you using the bridge today?” Future data driven people and their decisions will benefit from this valuable information.
Anything for our well-paid techies who love to sing the “we’ll all be carless” song without regard to the minimum wage people mentioned above. And the big tech companies who keep adding 20 more jobs to each housing unit, displacing neighborhoods, minorities, rent-controlled apartments and The Sharks.
Let’s build them microstudios with electric car lifts that fail during power outages.
Let’s spend more $$$$$$ on traffic-calming road furniture to give the rest of agita while we get gridlocked because we can’t stop building offices.
What a wonderful world. (Did we legalize dispensaries when I wasn’t looking?)
Another link to show the long history of this project.
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2019/11/19/palo-alto-prepares-to-launch-construction-on-bike-bridge#:~:text=Palo%20Alto%20City%20Council%20approved%20on%20Nov.%2018%2C,101.%20Rendering%20courtesy%20of%20city%20of%20Palo%20Alto.
Another example of ‘time is money’. Deferred/delayed projects will always end up costing more.
I can’t wait. Being able to safely cross 101 to bike in the Baylands. Fantastic!