海角大神

The聽Golden聽Gate聽Bridge聽will shut down to private vehicles for 52 hours starting at midnight Friday so workers can install a moveable median barrier designed to prevent head-on collisions, part of an effort to increase safety along the iconic structure.

Transit buses, emergency vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists will be able to cross the聽bridge聽while the barrier is being installed, the聽Golden聽Gate聽Bridge聽Highway and Transportation District said. The聽bridge聽is scheduled to reopen to all traffic Monday at 4 a.m.

The weekend closure will be the longest in the聽bridge's聽history and the first since 1987, when the聽bridge聽closed for a few hours for a celebration of the 50th anniversary of its construction.

Thomas Sturm, who lives in Sausalito and uses the聽Golden聽Gate聽Bridge聽to commute to his job as a software engineer in San Francisco, said he changed his plans for the weekend because of the closure.

"Instead of going to the city for an event, we're going to stay in Marin" and maybe go for a hike, he said.

Currently, small plastic tubes are all that separate vehicles traveling in opposite directions on the聽bridge.

They have done little to prevent crashes. Since 1970, there here have been 128 head-on collisions on the聽bridge, resulting in 16 deaths,聽Golden聽Gate聽Bridge聽spokeswoman Priya David Clemens said.

"The board of directors had been looking for a long time to find a way to prevent head-on collisions and enhance safety, but we didn't have the money, and the technology didn't exist," David Clemens said.

To create a moveable barrier, 3,500 steel-clad concrete blocks attached together by steel pins will be installed through the weekend along the 1.7-mile-long聽bridge聽and on the approach portion of Highway 101 north of the聽Golden聽Gate.

To reconfigure the聽bridge's聽six lanes during rush-hour commutes, the 32-inch-tall and 1-foot-wide barrier will be moved using trucks.

Similar barriers are used along the Coronado聽Bridge, Interstate 15 in San Diego and highways in several other U.S. cities.

At the聽Golden聽Gate聽Bridge, the speed limit will drop to 45 mph from 55 mph on the descent from Marin County at the聽bridge'snorthern end, officials said.

The two lanes that the barrier will touch will lose 6 inches of width, so officials are advising motorists to drive slowly.

The $30 million barrier is the latest effort by officials trying to make the聽Golden聽Gate聽Bridge聽safer.

In December, the聽bridge聽board of directors approved a design for a long-debated, $76 million suicide barrier to stop dozens of people each year from jumping to their deaths.

The design calls for stainless-steel cable nets reaching out 20 feet from the聽bridge. The cables will slightly collapse to absorb a person, making it difficult to get out until help arrives. Bids for the work are expected to be issued in March. Construction could take three years.

More than 1,400 people have jumped to their deaths since the聽bridge聽opened in 1937.