Pipeline Project Resumes, Traffic Delays Expected

Millbrae drivers may encounter traffic staring Jan. 17 on El Camino Real as the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission resumes work on its water pipeline replace project.

The construction area will be on El Camino Real between La Cruz and Victoria avenues from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday for the next few months. The work areas are approximately 300 feet long and may require one or two lane closures on El Camino Real southbound. No businesses along El Camino will be closed during construction.

The Crystal Springs Pipeline Replacement project will seismically retrofit the 19-mile water pipeline built in the 1930’s that spans from South San Francisco to Hillsborough. It is part of the SFPUC’s $4.6 billion upgrade to the regional water system, and officials expect completion by the fall of 2012.

The pipeline retrofit will use a ‘sliplining’ method – like inserting a smaller straw into a bigger straw – along the 11 work sites on El Camino Real. In case of a major earthquake, the upgrade would secure water for the region for at least a month.

The water agency has set up a 24 hour information hotline, 866-973-1476, as well as a website and a twitter account for updates.