Richmond-San Rafael bridge bike and pedestrian path to close later this month

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge's bicycle and pedestrian path will be closed for five hours each weekday for three weeks later this month and next month for structural inspections, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission said Wednesday.

The bridge will be closed from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday from Monday through March 13 to allow Caltrans to inspect the bridge's structural integrity as required every two years by the U.S. Federal Highway Administration.

According to the MTC, the closure period was scheduled to begin last month but was pushed back to accommodate upgrades to the truck inspectors will use to access the underside of the bridge. The truck is expected to block the entirety of the 10-foot-wide bike and pedestrian path.

Traffic for motorists traveling west on the bridge will not be affected, according to the MTC. Inspection work could be postponed for a day due to inclement weather, in which case the work would be rescheduled to a later date.

The bike and pedestrian bridge opened in November 2019 and was completed via a partnership between the Bay Area Toll Authority, Caltrans, the Contra Costa Transportation Authority and the Transportation Authority of Marin.