San francisco bridges closed

Bay Bridge Work Grinds On; Early Opening Hoped For New Span Transportation officials say work to open the new Bay Bridge eastern span was progressing just as it should, as crews have been working nonstop since the last cars passed through the toll plaza Wednesday. Worst Of Bridge Closure Gridlock Appears To Be In Rearview Mirror After what was a challenging Thursday for many in the region, struggling to get to and from work, errands and other obligations without the benefit of the Bay Bridge, plenty of people opted for a Friday off, leaving the roads, ferry terminals and BART platforms especially "Friday light.

Many of San Francisco's first responders including police, fire, and other emergency personnel live in the East Bay. So what would the city do if disaster were to strike while the Bay Bridge is closed? Bay Bridge Closure Survival Guide The long-awaited changeover from the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge to the newly-constructed suspension will force a 5-day closure leading up the anticipated September 3 opening.

More than meetings and six community workshops have been held over the past four years. Residents live in overcrowded conditions, and Portsmouth Square is their access to outdoor space. An estimated 8, to 9, people live in single-room occupancy hotels in Chinatown, according to Malcolm Yeung of the Chinatown Community Development Center.

Their rooms are tiny and everything is communal, including outdoor space, primarily at Portsmouth Square. But the living room is chopped up and segmented off. That dates to , when the bridge was completed to become the main entrance to the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, a community nonprofit that opened in and operates an art gallery on the third floor of the Hilton San Francisco Financial District hotel.

The Chinese Culture Center can be reached from the hotel lobby by elevator, but most of its visitors come across the bridge and up a stairway. The bigger question is whether the Hilton will put up resistance based on the fact that it paid for the construction of the pedestrian bridge and still owns it.

A street encroachment permit from the Department of Public Works allows the bridge to cross over Kearny. But that permit is revocable. If it came to that, the Hilton would have 30 days to remove its bridge. Scott Baublitz, director of marketing for Hilton San Francisco Financial District, said the chain was aware of the plan to remove the bridge but had no comment on it.

Decorated in bronze lanterns that depict Chinese symbols, the span is feet long and 28 feet wide and will take six months to dismantle piece by piece, with one lane of Kearny Street closed.

Portsmouth Square started out as a gathering place for the settlement of Yerba Buena, dating to the s when the shoreline was called Yerba Buena Cove, just east of where Kearny is now. Navy Capt. Eventually all squares, including Portsmouth, came under the jurisdiction of Rec and Park when it was created in But due to the traffic, many officers had to park their patrol vehicles and walk, Andrews said.

A Chronicle photographer stuck in the traffic said he saw more than a half a dozen California Highway Patrol officers walking through the Treasure Island tunnel to the protest in riot gear. As traffic lingered, he saw a man walking his dog as he waited for traffic to resume moving. While the protest was going on, marchers from a Black Lives Matter demonstration on the streets of San Francisco waved to their bridge counterparts.

Matthias Gafni is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: matthias. Most Popular. Approximately 50 vehicles rolled to a stop shortly after p.