Caltrans Closes Highway 37 Between Mare Island and Sears Point for El Niño Storm Prep

Caltrans closed a key stretch of Highway 37 in the North Bay between Mare Island and Sears Point from Friday night through early Monday morning, sending weekend drivers onto detours while crews carried out emergency flood-prevention work ahead of El Niño and winter storms.

According to Caltrans spokesperson Clayton Warren, the agency identified asphalt erosion along the corridor during the summer and scheduled the weekend shutdown to prepare the roadway for winter weather.

Median Demolition and K-Rail Shifts Ahead of Roadway Lift

During the weekend closure, Caltrans crews focused on demolishing sections of the center median and relocating concrete K-rail barriers to shift traffic lanes.

"To move traffic over so that we can complete some work to basically prevent flooding and we want to be able to have this highway open so that when we get our El Niño storms and winter storms, so we can keep this artery open," Warren told NBC Bay Area.

Warren said shifting the K-rail barriers to the westbound side will give crews room to shore up the roadbed so that Caltrans can subsequently lift portions of Highway 37 by 3 feet. Follow-up work to raise the roadway segments will take place after the barrier realignment.