San Francisco commuters face Van Ness closure
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - San Francisco commuters face a three day closure on a portion of one of the city's busiest streets.
The 1100 block of Van Ness Avenue between Geary and Post is closed from midnight Friday through midnight Sunday.
The closure is the final phase of an underground tunnel for the new California Pacific Medical Center Van Ness/Geary hospital site.
"We'll be working 72 hours straight to finish the final phase of underground construction," explained Paul Klemish of HerreroBOLDT construction.
"For six months we had a lot of activity beneath the surface here and this is just our final phase," he said. "We're actually going to pop up above surface for three days."
Warning signs have been telling drivers for weeks to prepare for detours during the three day closure.
Northbound traffic on Van Ness will be diverted to Franklin, while southbound traffic will detour to Gough.
Drivers should expect delays. Bus and pedestrian traffic will still be able to get through on Van Ness.
The closure is the third and final time Van Ness will close for the CPMC project.
Construction crews will backfill six feet below Van Ness and repave the street.
The tunnel - 30 feet below the street – is intended to make the area safer for future hospital staff and patients, as well as the traveling public on Van Ness.
"We want to keep as much traffic off Van Ness as possible," said Klemish.
The new $2 billion CPMC Hospital campus is expected to open sometime in 2019.