Lane Closures on I-880 at Hegenberger Today, Tomorrow

From a Bay Are Rapid Transit District alert:

BART and Caltrans will need to close all lanes of northbound Interstate 880 (I-880) at Hegenberger Road, on Sunday, March 24, 2013 between the hours of 1AM and 6AM. These early morning closures are necessary to allow crews to construct the Oakland Airport Connector system’s guideways above I-880, between Hegenberger and 98th Avenue, in Oakland. Drivers who need to pass through that area will need to follow the detour signs requiring vehicles to exit at Hegenberger, then detour via Edes Avenue, Coliseum Way and 66th Avenue, back onto I-880.

Details of the Closure
During the construction, crews will follow the approximate schedule of activities (weather permitting):

Saturday, March 23
11:00 AM Two lanes adjacent to the median on northbound Interstate 880 to close
11:30 PM Crews to move crane into closed northbound lanes of traffic

Sunday, March 24
1:00 AM Northbound I-880 to close at Hegenberger Road
1:30 AM to 2:30 AM Crews to transport assembled truss to pick-up area
2:30 AM to 4:00 AM Guideway lifted overhead, adjusted and attached to concrete columns
4:00 AM Demobilize crane 
6:00 AM Northbound I-880 re-opened to traffic

The guideway installation signifies a major milestone for the Oakland Airport Connector project.  Once constructed, the more than 300-foot long span—comprised of more than 150 tons of steel supported by concrete columns over the highway’s northbound and southbound lanes—will allow the cable-propelled system to travel above highway traffic to and from the Coliseum/Oakland Airport BART Station and Oakland International Airport.

About the Oakland Airport Connector
The Oakland Airport Connector (OAC) is a 3.2-mile extension of BART from the Coliseum/Oakland Airport BART Station to Oakland International Airport (OAK), via an “Automated Guideway Transit (AGT)” system. OAC will replace the AirBART buses, and will provide a seamless connection between BART and OAK with driverless trains that travel the alignment in eight minutes and depart every four minutes.

The AGT system, designed by Doppelmayr Cable Car, rests on a mostly elevated guideway that spans the length of the Hegenberger Road business corridor. The system also includes two new stations at each end of the line, an operations power and maintenance facility, and a subway underneath Doolittle Drive.

Construction is underway at OAK along Airport Drive and at the site of the system's Airport Station (in the parking area adjacent to Terminal 1), as well as other locations along Doolittle Drive, 98th Avenue, Hegenberger Road and San Leandro Street in Oakland. Once the guideway is installed across Interstate 880 the project will be more than 60 percent complete. Construction is scheduled to be complete in late 2013, and, after several months of systems testing, OAC will open for service in late 2014.

For more details about the OAC, call (510) 464-6463, email oaklandairportconnector@bart.gov, or visitwww.bart.gov/oac.