Caltrans plans multiple Highway 37 closures to prepare for El Niño

With a record El Ni o likely to bring strong winter storms, Highway 37 in Sonoma, Napa and Solano counties will undergo multiple closures for emergency storm preparation, Caltrans announced.The closures, which will take place over several weeks, will involve a stretch of the highway between Sears Point in Sonoma County and Mare Island in Vallejo. Crews are expediting work, which will require full shutdowns of the route, officials said."The water pretty much stayed out there in Vallejo the entire summer," said Caltrans spokesperson Bart Ney. "So, there's some damage to the roadway there. We have erosion that has taken some of the material that's underneath the roadway. And the pavement, of course, is cracked." Shutdowns will begin on Wednesday, Oct. 21 and Thursday, Oct. 22, as Caltrans closes the westbound direction of the highway from 7 p.m. to 4 a.m. the following day.The following weekend, both directions of the highway are scheduled to be closed for 55 hours, from 10 p.m. on Frid