UPDATE 7/24: The work is now scheduled for 7/27-29 northbound and 8/10-12 southbound.
UPDATE: This work has been postponed. From SDOT: “Unfortunately, this work has been postponed. When we opened the buckets of primer yesterday, we discovered that it had hardened inside of the sealed buckets and was unusable. So we reopened the bike lanes last night around 7pm and are waiting to hear back from the manufacturer on when new materials will arrive.”
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The southbound University Bridge bike lane will be closed today until early Wednesday morning, SDOT announced today. The northbound lane will be closed July 27 until early July 29.
SDOT crews are installing a high friction coating to the sections of bike lane over the bascule bridge. The metal grating has long been filled in with concrete for the bike lanes, but the concrete is recessed a bit. Bike tires still touch the metal, which can be very slippery when wet. Hopefully, the new coating will make it more comfortable to bike and improve traction in case users need to brake.
Unfortunately, users don’t have great options for getting around the closures. There is a sidewalk, but it’s pretty skinny. You can also bike in the general purpose lanes, but be aware that the metal grating can be very slippery when wet and can feel a bit squirrelly when dry.
The city started testing the idea back in October, and you may have noticed a small rectangle of green. I guess it was successful, because now the whole bike lane is getting the treatment:
The closure will be 24-hours because the materials need to cure. Timelines are weather dependent. More details from SDOT: (more…)