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Overnight construction work is scheduled to install steel segments for a new bridge across U.S. Highway 101 in Palo Alto starting April 29, 2021. Courtesy Saeed Shahmirzai, construction management consultant for the city of Palo Alto.

A new bike bridge over U.S. Highway 101 in Palo Alto is set to take shape later this week when crews install steel segments of the crossing, which will require overnight road closures.

Two prefabricated steel segments will go up for the Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge Project, which will connect south Palo Alto with the Baylands year-round. The new structure will replace the Benjamin Lefkowitz underpass, which is typically closed during the winter and part of spring due to flooding.

Starting Thursday night, crews are scheduled to install a 100-foot-long steel section across West Bayshore Road near Adobe Creek. The work will block West Bayshore from 8 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Friday, during which time a detour will be in place. Southbound lanes of the freeway between San Antonio and Embarcadero roads also will be blocked during the same time period.

On Friday, another 100-foot-long section will be installed over East Bayshore Road, which is scheduled to be closed from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Saturday. A detour during the temporary shutdown can be found here. It will coincide with the closure of northbound lanes of Highway 101 between San Antonio and Embarcadero.

The city recommends the public expect delays when traveling through the area and give themselves more time during their trip.

The installation of a third segment, which will stretch across the freeway, is expected to happen sometime in May. The segment is a “unique oversized overload, and its transport route and permitting are still under review,” the city said in an April 21 announcement. The bridge section will come to Palo Alto from Arizona and involve an escort from the California Highway Patrol.

The work was initially scheduled in February, but was delayed due to the “technical transport/permitting issue,” the city said at the time.

The project is estimated to be completed on July 26. More information can be found at cityofpaloalto.org.

View maps of the closures on West Bayshore and East Bayshore roads here:

Bayshore Closures

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

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1 Comment

  1. The PA bridge took more-than-a-decade to even plan using “the Palo Alto process”. (starts and stops cost $$$,$$$ and years) The MV equivalent bridge was completed and in use in less than a decade! Permanente Creek Trail. (2012 MV Voice article)
    https://mv-voice.com/news/2012/06/12/city-opens-new-9-million–trail-link

    Yeah ‘public process’ in the City of MV. (Google Maps view of MV bridge)
    https://www.google.com/maps/@37.4167559,-122.0871742,326m/data=!3m1!1e3

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