Caltrans is fully closing El Camino Real (State Route 82) in Burlingame in both directions on daytime shifts this week, Monday through Friday, Nov. 9-13, to remove aging eucalyptus trees and clean up a staging area.
The schedule, from Caltrans:
- Rosedale Ave. to Carmelita Ave.: closed Monday, Nov. 9, and Wednesday, Nov. 11, through Friday, Nov. 13, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Carmelita Ave. to Howard Ave.: closed Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
- Detour: California Drive.
Caltrans asks drivers to stick to the posted detour because many side streets next to El Camino Real are too narrow for heavy traffic. Left turns are banned in active work zones where only one lane is open each way, but are allowed at Broadway.
Bus riders
SamTrans has routes ECR and 397 on an extended 24/7 detour that uses San Mateo Drive and California Drive between 2nd Avenue in San Mateo and Millbrae Transit Center, with some El Camino stops closed.
The closures are part of Caltrans' $173 million El Camino Real rehabilitation project, which repaves the road, upgrades sidewalks and aims to reduce flooding. SamTrans says construction through Burlingame and parts of Hillsborough, San Mateo and Millbrae is scheduled from 2026 to 2029. Crews are replacing the removed trees with saplings to keep the historic grove.