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19th Ave. repair work scheduled
Crews are scheduled to close down two lanes of NB 19th Ave. this weekend for repaving and repairs.
SAN FRANCISCO - Last week it was I-80 along the east side of San Francisco that was shut down. Now drivers are preparing for major roadwork on one of the busiest streets on the west side of the city.
Used daily by an estimated 66,000 vehicles, 19th Avenue, a major north/south thoroughfare, is a bumpy ride, full of potholes and cracks. Now, Caltrans is set to begin the first of three major road closures to repair, resurface, and repave.
From 7 a.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday, all but one northbound lane on 19th Ave. will be closed between Sloat Boulevard and Lincoln Way.
"We're going to have two lanes closed," Caltrans spokesperson Pedro Quintana said. "We have one lane open at all times for local access for emergency vehicles and also for our buses as well."
Local perspective:
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," Julian Ruiz said.
Other drivers acknowledge the poor condition of the road, but said the work will cause backups and headaches when it comes to traveling north on the city's west side.
"It could be better," Stan, who declined to give his last name, stated. "There's definitely stretches where it could use updates. But, closing it down for a whole weekend is probably not the best idea."
Dig deeper:
It's not just commuters who are concerned — some businesses on the 19th Avenue corridor are concerned about what the closure will mean for their customers.
Michael Chen of Guilin Rice Noodle House said he received no official notice of the closure. He plans to remain open through the weekend but anticipates a drop in business, so he's asking customers to turn out and support his business. Chen is no stranger to road construction impacting his businesses — he was also impacted by the years-long L Taraval rail project.
"After the L, they've finished, (business) picked up a little bit," Chen said. "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."
What they're saying:
Caltrans said while there is no convenient time to shut down traffic along 19th, the work is necessary. The agency said it has 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.
What's next:
The closure is the first of three planned along 19th Avenue. The southbound lanes will be under construction the weekend of May 8th, and the final closure will close the north and southbound lanes between Sloat Boulevard and Holloway Avenue starting May 22.