Van Ness road work: For more than a week, the left lane of a key San Francisco artery - southbound Van Ness Avenue - has been closed by orange cones and sawhorses. The street closure, which was prompted by a sinkhole, has led to traffic jams and flummoxed drivers, says ChronicleWatch reader Jim Porter, who says "the loss of one of the two left-turn lanes is causing a serious traffic mess." Another ChronicleWatch reader, Dennis Wong, asked how much longer the work will take, saying simply, "What gives?" Thursday, a spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Tyrone Jue, said the project will take four weeks. The reason: The sinkhole, formed because of a broken sewer main, needs major repair. Simply patching the hole, which could be done immediately, was deemed inadvisable because the hole might return and cause serious injury to a vehicle. The sinkhole formed two weeks ago on Van Ness between Broadway and Vallejo Street. Work on the sewer and roadway will begin in earnest Monday and continue between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. weekdays, Jue said. To expedite the project, he said, the city would like to continue the repair work on weekends, but it needs to get permission from Caltrans, which has jurisdiction over Van Ness.

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This article appeared on page B - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle