At 8 p.m. Friday night Caltrans and San Diego Association of Governments crews will begin a weekend-long closure on the westbound State Route 54 to southbound Interstate 805 connector ramp, the Reo Drive on-ramp to westbound SR 54 and up to three inside lanes in both directions of I-805.
Crews will be upgrading bridge bearing pads on the connector ramp. These improvements are intended to prolong the life of the connector and are a part of the continued investment in South County infrastructure as part of the I-805 South Corridor Enhancement Projects.
The bearing pad replacement work is intended to allow the highway bridge structures to accommodate for shock, vibration, and shifts caused by vehicle weight and movement. Crews will use cranes and jacking beams to lift the one-million-pound concrete segment a few inches, allowing the 50-year-old existing pads to be removed and replaced with new ones.
The closures will also allow maintenance teams to perform safety and cleanup work in areas that are otherwise unreachable.
For the safety of construction workers and the traveling public, there will also be full closures of northbound and southbound I-805, and the westbound SR 54 to northbound I-805 connector, for eight-hour periods on Friday and Sunday nights -- from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. -- in order to safely move heavy equipment into the work areas.
All closures are expected to reopen to traffic by Monday at 5 a.m.
The I-805 South Express Lanes Project area is approximately 11 miles long, between East Palomar Street in Chula Vista and the I-805/SR 15 interchange in San Diego. The project includes the addition of Carpool/High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) Lanes within the freeway median, the construction of a Direct Access Ramp (DAR) at East Palomar Street in Chula Vista that connects to the Carpool/HOV Lanes, as well as intermediate access points, direct connectors, in-line transit stations and park & ride locations.
