San Jose, CA — As one of the final two bridge structures on the County’s state mandated seismic re-trofit list, the overcrossing at Lawrence Expressway and Central Expressway is now under construction.

Traffic control was set up on December 29, 2007. Pedestrian access will be maintained during construction.

The project is expected to complete by the middle of August. According to the County’s traffic count, 106,000 vehicles use this overcrossing daily. The retrofitting has the following three phases:

1. For the next 9 to 10 weeks, the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane on Lawrence Expressway northbound between Kifer and Arques is closed. The stationary carpool lane signs are covered and overhead HOV lane signs have been turned off between Kifer and Arques.

2. After the first phase is reopened, for the following 9 to 10 weeks, the same traffic control will be implemented on the west (southbound) side of the overcrossing.

3. For the final 13-14 weeks, after the southbound lane is reopened, one lane in each direction next to the median will be closed and the columns in the median will be retrofitted.

During the period of lane closures on Lawrence Expressway, drivers may experience a slight increase in traffic congestion.

To minimize construction effects on congestion, the HOV lane restrictions have been lifted for this portion of Lawrence for the duration of lane closure work.

Shoreline Boulevard Overhead at Central Expressway and Central Expressway Over crossing at Lawrence Expressway are the final two bridge structures on the County’s state mandated seismic retrofit list.

Following the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, the State enacted legislation to create the Seismic Safety Retrofit Program.