The Golden Gate Bridge Will Be Closed for 52 HOURS STRAIGHT This Weekend

By Daisy Barringer
Golden Gate Bridge
Golden Gate Bridge

Thinking about heading to Marin this weekend for some nature and sunshine? Hahahahaha. Yeah... no. But if you were, don't. The Golden Gate Bridge will be closed starting at 12:01am on Saturday and won't reopen until 4am on Monday.

Until this weekend, the longest the bridge has ever been shut down to traffic was for six hours on May 24, 1987, for the 50th Anniversary Pedestrian Walk, an event that, rumor has it, flattened the bridge due to the enormous amount of human weight. And this is San Franciscans we're talking about! Imagine if it had gone down in the Midwest...

Anyway, this time, the bridge is shutting down for the installation of a moveable median barrier, part of a $30 million effort to prevent head-on collisions on the GG Bridge, something anyone who's ever driven in the "suicide lane" can definitely get behind. Those plastic tubular pylons that are used to separate opposing lanes of traffic? Yeah, those are going bye-bye and are being replaced with a concrete median that will be moved by a zipper truck depending on traffic flow. Safer for drivers and for the dudes who have to physically move the lanes every day.

If you're super-desperate to get to Marin, the bridge's East sidewalk will remain open to pedestrians and bicyclists, and you'll still be able to take Golden Gate Transit bus service (or the ferry). But maybe just look at this as an opportunity to stay in SF or... visit your friends in Oakland! (So... stay in SF.)

Oh, and since the Golden Gate Bridge closure is sure to be a hot topic all weekend, check out 13 Things You Didn't Know About the Golden Gate Bridge so you can impress all of your friends with obscure fun facts (like that the foghorn once blew for 15 days STRAIGHT).

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Daisy Barringer is Thrillist's SF Editor and it appears her biggest claim to fame is that she walked across the bridge for the 50th anniversary in 1987. Well, kind of. Due to the human gridlock, she and her family only made it halfway. Follow her on Twitter @daisy.