San Francisco Sightseeing Articles

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - North state residents planning a trip to the Bay Area early this week may want to rethink their travel plans.

Transit officials are advising drivers who use the San Francisco Tour-Oakland Bay Bridge to begin preparing alternate plans for their morning commute, saying they still don't know if the span will reopen as scheduled at 5 a.m. Tuesday.

California Department of Transportation spokesman Bart Ney said Monday repair work on an unexpected crack in the span had begun. But he called completing the work before the Tuesday 5 a.m. deadline a "monumental challenge."

Officials have scheduled an update at 5 p.m. Monday, when they are expected to say for certain whether the bridge will reopen.

The bridge was shut down over the holiday weekend so a section of the eastern span could be cut out and replaced with a new double deck section. Crews used the closure to inspect the bridge, discovering the crack Saturday.