Looking for things to do this weekend? Or wondering what obstacles you might encounter on the roads? Then you've come to the right place. Every Friday, traffic reporter Bob Pryor writes a the "Major Timesaver" guide to events in the Bay Area, complete with his incomparable traffic tips. Get the guide sent straight to your phone by downloading the RADIO.COM app and making KCBS Radio one of your favorite stations.
If you want to stroll through San Francisco, you'll be pleased to hear that longest Sunday Streets route of the year will be in open for pedestrian, while Berkeley’s own Sunday Streets shares the limelight with the nearby Vine Street Block Party. Also in San Francisco, the annual Haight Ashbury Fair marks its 42nd year, while, on the Peninsula, the 9-day San Mateo County Fair gets under way.
If you're a mass transit rider, take note that in San Jose, some VTA light-rail service will be replaced by a bus bridge due to track work. And, once again, BART train will not be running between Concord and Pleasant Hill. In the North Bay, the SMART Train will not be stopping at the San Rafael station — a bus bridge is involved there as well.
SOUTH BAY:
Sat, Jun 8 and Sun, Jun 9, all day: Due to on-going light rail rehabilitation work, buses will replace trains of a portion of the VTA's Blue Line, between Alum Rock and Santa Teresa) and the Green Line between Mountain View and Winchester. The part of the lines affected is between Karina Station and Santa Clara station. Stations that will be served by the bus bridge only – no light rail trains – will be Metro/Airport, Gish, Civic Center, and Japantown/Ayer. The little service map here shows the affected stations and the extent of the bus bridge.
EAST BAY:
Sat, June 8 and Sun, June 9, all day: For the fourth and hopefully final time in recent weeks, there will be
no BART trains running between the Concord station and the Pleasant Hill/Contra Costa Centre station due to round-the-clock track work. On Saturday and Sunday, passengers will need to avail themselves of the
free bus bridge, and, to be safe,
should add 20 minutes travel time to their planned trip. Passengers heading through this area on the very last train of the day should also see the BART website for special information.
- Pro tip: Passengers traveling toward San Francisco, who typically park at Concord, North Concord, or Pittsburg/Bay Point stations, may want to consider driving to the Pleasant Hill Station and parking there (BART weekend parking is free) in order to avoid having to take the bus.
Sun, June 9 from 11am-5pm: Sunday Streets comes to North Berkeley with 10 blocks of Shattuck Avenue closed between Rose Street and University Avenue. There will be live music, art, cooking demos, wine tasting, etc. This will happen in tandem with the Vine Street Block Party, which has one block of Vine Street in Berkeley’s Gourmet Ghetto.
- Pro tip: While this may be a “North Berkeley” Sunday Streets, you’ll get there quicker by debarking at the Downtown Berkeley BART Station than at the North Berkeley BART Station.
- Areas and roadways affected: Traffic will likely bunch up on northbound Shattuck just south of University Avenue. Cross traffic will be allowed at Rose Street, Cedar Street, and University Avenue. Buses that normally stop on Shattuck will be re-routed to Oxford Street.
PENINSULA:
Sat, Jun 8 (11am-10pm) and Sun, Jun 9 (11am-10pm): Opening weekend of the
San Mateo County Fair, which
runs through Sat, Jun 16. Features live music, agriculture, crafts and demos, variety acts, competitions, fair food, family fun zone, nightly concert series. It all happens at the County Fair and Expo grounds, 2495 S Delaware Street, just south of Saratoga Drive.
- Pro tip: On-site parking is $15. If you take a SamTrans ECR bus from BART’s Millbrae station (or from anywhere on El Camino) to 25th Street and walk 2 blocks east, you’ll be at the fair.
- Areas and roadways affected: Likely extra traffic on El Camino Real in the area between Highway 92 and Hillsdale Blvd and on S Delaware Street in the Expo/Bay Meadows area.
SAN FRANCISCO:
Sun, June 9 from 11am-4pm:
Sunday Streets heads to the Sunset District and Golden Gate Park. This Sunday Streets route is the longest of the year, with a route follows John F. Kennedy Drive from Transverse Drive through Golden Gate Park, onto the Great Highway at Lincoln Way and south on the Great Hwy to Sloat Blvd. There will be multiple street closures in the park and on nearby streets from 10am to 4pm. Check out this
map for details.
- Pro tip: Cars left in the affected streets will be towed beginning at 8am on Sunday. If you’re going to be traveling in a north/south direction anywhere near Golden Gate Park or the Great Highway on Sunday, go to this page and read the section entitled “Detours and Local Access”. The same page has a section, “Getting There” that lays out public transit options for getting to this Sunday Streets.
- Areas and roadways affected: The impact on the Great Highway and on streets in and through Golden Gate Park will be exacerbated by the fact that some of those same streets will be in use by triathletes doing the 18-mile-long bicycle leg of the Escape From Alcatraz Triathlon. A quick visit to the Triathlon’s street closure page is worth your while.
Sun, Jun 9 from 11am-5:30pm: The 42nd annual Haight Ashbury Street Fair will take place in the Haight-Ashbury District. The fair features two stages of lives music, over 200 vendors of arts and crafts, clothing and food. There will be multiple street closures as part of the festivities.
- Areas and roadways affected: The whole area south of the Panhandle and west of Masonic Avenue to Golden Gate Park is likely to be heavily congested.
NORTH BAY/SOLANO:
Fri, June 7 thru Sun, June 9: Sonoma Raceway hosts the
Blancpain GT World Challenge America Series. The new format features two 90-min races with full-service pit stops.
- Pro tip: If you want to shell out $212, there’s weekend camping in the raceway’s Turn 8 campground, which overlooks one of the fastest parts of the course, the Esses.
- Areas and roadways affected: Highway 37, Highway 121and Lakeville Highway
Fri, Jun 7 starting at 8pm and continuing all weekend, until Mon, Jun 10 at 4am: One block of Third Street in San Rafael will be closed between Hetherton Street and Tamalpais Avenue in order to allow for construction work on the SMART Train’s Larkspur extension. Drivers can use Fourth Street as an alternate route.
In addition, the San Rafael SMART Train station will be closed and replaced by a shuttle bus between the Marin Civic Center station and Larkspur Ferry Terminal
- Pro tip: Go here for more detour information. Because Third Street is near off-ramps from both northbound and southbound Highway 101, drivers may want to plan out their route ahead of time or just plan to avoid the area.
