BART & CALTRANS TO CLOSE SOUTHBOUND I-880 AT HEGENBERGER ROAD CLOSURE SCHEDULED 1:30 AM TO 5:30 AM APRIL 21

         Today’s Date:     April 12, 2013

District:                District 4, Oakland 

Contact:               Steven Williams Caltrans Phone:                  510-286-6195

Contact:               Alicia Trost BART

Phone:                  510-464-6154

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BART & CALTRANS TO CLOSE SOUTHBOUND I-880 AT HEGENBERGER ROAD CLOSURE SCHEDULED 1:30 AM TO 5:30 AM APRIL 21

OAKLAND, CA – BART and Caltrans will close all lanes of southbound Interstate 880 (I-880) at Hegenberger Road, on Sunday, April 21 between the hours of 1:30 AM and 5:30 AM. This early morning closure is necessary to allow crews to construct the Oakland Airport Connector system’s guideway above I-880. Drivers who must pass through that area will need to follow

the detour signs, requiring vehicles to exit at Hegenberger, then detour via Airport Access Road and 98th Avenue in Oakland.

DETAILS OF THE CLOSURE

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

Saturday, April 20

11:00 pm                     Two lanes adjacent to the median on southbound Interstate 880 to close

11:30 pm                     Crews to move crane into closed southbound lanes of traffic

Sunday, April 21

1:30 am                       Southbound 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                       Crane demobilized

5:30 am                       Southbound I-880 re-opened to traffic

This guideway installation signifies a major milestone for the Oakland Airport Connector project. In March 2013 northbound I-880 was closed twice to construct the guideway over the highway’s northbound lanes. Once constructed, the more than 300-foot long span 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.

Designed by Flatiron/Parsons Joint Venture and Doppelmayr Cable Car, the AGT system 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 visit www.bart.gov/oac.

####