'Stay on your own side of the bay' this weekend in the San Francisco region

July 31--After weeks of warning, the time has come. All day Saturday and Sunday, BART will close the Transbay Tube for major track repairs, severing the regional transit system at its backbone and forcing riders onto buses and ferries or into their cars to get between San Francisco and the East Bay.

The shutdown underscores the wear and tear of an aging system that is more popular than ever, and raises questions about whether agency leaders could have done anything to avoid taking the tube offline for a full weekend. But mostly, it's a serious headache for riders.

BART will open for business on Saturday and Sunday, but the stretch of track reaching from downtown Oakland to the Embarcadero Station -- including the Transbay Tube and West Oakland station -- will be closed. The shutdown will be repeated over the three-day Labor Day weekend.

To keep the Bay Area connected, BART will run continuous bus service between downtown Oakland and downtown San Francisco, and ferry service is also being increased. But BART officials warn that delays could add an hour or more to journeys, and traffic across the Bay Bridge, always clogged on weekends, is sure to be a mess. .....................(more)

http://www.masstransitmag.com/news/14051901/bart-and-its-riders-prepare-for-weekend-transbay-tube-shutdown