Alameda County to fully close Meekland Avenue bridge for long‑term reconstruction; AC Transit to reroute lines 93 and 34

Alameda County Public Works told the Board of Supervisors’ Unincorporated Services Committee on May 27 that the Meekland Avenue Bridge will be fully closed during the bridge reconstruction phase to allow safer, faster work.

The county’s Public Works director, Daniel Aldesabeth, said the corridor improvement project — which includes continuous sidewalks, ADA‑compliant ramps, high‑visibility crosswalks, a continuous bike lane, street trees and green‑infrastructure drainage improvements — began earlier this year and that crews will start the bridge deconstruction in early June. "The bridge will be fully closed during the construction period," Aldesabeth said, adding the bridge work is expected to run through April 2027 and the overall project to finish by September 2027.

The closure will block through traffic across the bridge; Aldesabeth said local access to adjacent homes and businesses will be maintained and emergency access will be preserved. Work hours are planned generally from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays with occasional extensions, and the county said it will provide multilingual mailed notices, door‑to‑door outreach, on‑site signage and continuous updates on a project website and hotline (info@acpwa.org, 670‑5591).

AC Transit transportation planner Owen Kristofferson described the agency’s temporary detour routing for two affected lines. Line 93 will use East Lewelling Boulevard and Via Granada rather than Meekland, and Line 34 will follow a similar detour; several Meekland stops will be temporarily taken out of service and repurposed stops on nearby streets will serve riders. Kristofferson said AC Transit is considering an additional temporary stop at Paseo Grande and Via Granada and will add temporary stops at Meekland/Paseo Grande to maintain access. "Service alerts will publish the detour routing and the stops that are no longer in service," he said; the detour will be reflected in AC Transit’s August service changes so mapping apps and trip planners show the route.

Residents during the public comment period urged more proactive, multilingual outreach and asked that detour signage and mapping alerts be coordinated before school starts. Bruce King of Friends of San Lorenzo Creek asked how community members without email subscriptions will learn of meetings and service changes; other residents raised concerns that mailers had not reached all neighborhoods and that English‑only cards were insufficient for Spanish‑speaking households. A number of callers asked AC Transit to add the proposed Via Granada temporary stop because elderly riders and those less likely to use apps will need nearby access.

Public Works and AC Transit said they had held prior community meetings, mailed multilingual notices, and would coordinate with mapping platforms such as Waze and Google to reflect closures. They also asked neighborhood groups and MACs to help spread word of detours and temporary stops.

What’s next: Public Works and AC Transit said they will continue door‑to‑door outreach, update the project website and publish service alerts; AC Transit encouraged riders to subscribe to eNews for region‑specific emails. The county did not adopt any formal action at the committee meeting; staff committed to follow up with specific outreach venues and stop‑location decisions before the closure begins in early June.