Badly needed paving on 680 over the Sunol Grade set for December: Roadshow

Q: Interstate 680 over the Sunol Grade is badly in need of resurfacing. Is there any hope of new pavement soon?

Bob P., Fremont

A: Yes. Work will begin in December to repave Interstate 680, starting in the Sunol area, then working northward. It is part of a major improvement project between Koopman Road in Sunol and Acosta Boulevard in San Ramon. The full project is expected to last about a year and a half.

For the first section of the work starting in December, Caltrans will close northbound Interstate 680 overnight from the junction of 680 and Highway 84 to the Sunol Boulevard exit. They anticipate completing this section in April 2023.

For this section, lanes of northbound I-680 will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Monday through Friday. Weekend closures are not anticipated, barring unforeseen circumstances. All work is weather-dependent. Caltrans is aware that the closures will impact drivers and is working to minimize the inconvenience.

California Highway Patrol officers and message signs will guide motorists to the changes in traffic during construction. Detours for the December closures are as follows:

• Drivers from the South Bay: Take I-880/238/I-580 instead of I-680.
• For closures between the Koopman Road and Sunol Boulevard interchanges: Exit I-680 at Paloma Way, take Pleasanton Sunol Road and re-enter northbound I-680 at Sunol Boulevard.
• Take eastbound 84 to I-580.

Q: Regarding Joseph Weinstein’s comment about installing a cement wall half a mile before the Mission Boulevard offramp from 680 in order to prevent dive bombing accidents, I, too, thought about that. Then I realized it would just move the problem further up the freeway to where the cement wall begins.

Dive bombers gonna dive bomb … it’s just a question of when and where.

Doug Swalen

A: I think you may be right.

Q: I wanted to let you know of some changes to paving plans along Stevens Creek Boulevard. I know you’ve gotten multiple questions about Stevens Creek pavement previously, and hopefully this information comes in handy.

We were initially planning to do the stretch between Monroe and Stern at night. But cold temperatures mean we need to move some of the operations to daytime hours now, and push some of the project to 2023. We will be paving part of Monroe to Winchester during the night and part during daytime hours. It will cause some inconvenience to traffic, but I think people are ready to see the stretch paved regardless!

The recent forecast and weather delayed the repaving. We will monitor the forecast after Thanksgiving and proceed when there is a two-week window of time that the forecast is good enough for paving.

Colin Heyne, City of San Jose Dept. of Transportation

A: Thanks for the update.

Look for Gary Richards at Facebook.com/mr.roadshow or contact him at mrroadshow@bayareanewsgroup.