Bay Area Highway at Risk: Can It Survive Rising Seas?

SAN FRANCISCO – A major highway project in the San Francisco Bay Area is testing how to build roads for a future with higher seas. The effort raises urgent questions about what it takes to protect vital infrastructure from climate change. Engineers face a new challenge: reinforcing a concrete highway against rising water levels. The project is a case study for other coastal cities. Planners must decide between expensive walls, elevated roadbeds, or even moving the highway inland. The work is slow and costly. But experts say inaction is not an option. As sea levels rise, roads that were built decades ago are now vulnerable to flooding. The Bay Area project aims to set a standard for how to adapt—before the next big storm hits.