Overpass collapse in Oakland

[Muse]

I live in Berkeley and don't drive much but my brother's coming to town this weekend and I'll be doing the driving. I'll be picking them up at OAK. Will I be able to drive down 980 and out to the airport, or need to take an alternate route (Thursday afternoon)?

Plus, they will be staying in S.F., and I will be taking them from there to OAK Sunday evening. Is that route down? How will I get to the airport and how much time will it take?

I watched about 3 hours of news coverage on this and remain totally confused what's going on there. Thanks for any help.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

To answer your question, drive down the 980 to the 880 as usual. Traffic should be relatively LIGHTER once you get on the 880. I'm afraid the 980-880 ramp might be jammed, but I havent driven that since the collapse.

The affected routes are:
Bay Bridge (I-80) => 580/24 ramp
I-80 East => I-880 (if you get on the 80 say at University or Ashby and are headed southbound)

But really, if you wanted to get on I-880 from Berkeley, you would be using 24. Only the newbs use 80 (unless of course you live right next to the 80, but for most students who live near campus, 24/980 is the smart way).

If you're going into SF, traffic will be heavy on the 80, and so MAYBE you should try the 24 and merge onto 580 to get to the Bay Bridge. The secret shortcut I use via W. Grand Ave via the I-880 ramp is obviously closed since hte 880 ramp is closed. For me, the bridge has light traffic, but its getting on that will be tricky. Carpool on the weekdays is perfectly fine, although I-80 West was completely jammed up the @$$ from Gilman to the Maze. However, jams on 80 should be made up by the fact that the bridge has exceptionally light traffic (probably because they can't feed as many cars into the toll plaza now), so its easy to exit 5th or 9th street without too many slowdowns.

 

[Aquaman]

did they say how long it would take to repair?

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<, just curious

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Aquaman
did they say how long it would take to repair?

Cheers,
Aquaman <<<<<, just curious

Caltrans gave no specifics. They said months.

It took Caltrans roughly 1 month to fix the Bay Bridge in 1989 when a section of the upper deck collapsed. Under emergency conditions they can work pretty quickly. If only they built the whole new east span under "emergency conditions" we could see everything speed up =]

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
To answer your question, drive down the 980 to the 880 as usual. Traffic should be relatively LIGHTER once you get on the 880. I'm afraid the 980-880 ramp might be jammed, but I havent driven that since the collapse.

The affected routes are:
Bay Bridge (I-80) => 580/24 ramp
I-80 East => I-880 (if you get on the 80 say at University or Ashby and are headed southbound)

But really, if you wanted to get on I-880 from Berkeley, you would be using 24. Only the newbs use 80 (unless of course you live right next to the 80, but for most students who live near campus, 24/980 is the smart way).

Uh, I guess you mean where you get on it heading south while on Martin Luther King Jr. at about 50th street in Oakland? I didn't realize that was 24, but I guess it is. That's how I enter the freeway system when I want to head south toward the Coliseum (or whatever they're calling it nowadays). I always get confused with the highway numbers. Is that 80, 980 or 880? That stuff drives me nuts. Maybe one's a state, another federal.

If you're going into SF, traffic will be heavy on the 80, and so MAYBE you should try the 24 and merge onto 580 to get to the Bay Bridge. The secret shortcut I use via W. Grand Ave via the I-880 ramp is obviously closed since the 880 ramp is closed. For me, the bridge has light traffic, but its getting on that will be tricky. Carpool on the weekdays is perfectly fine, although I-80 West was completely jammed up the @$$ from Gilman to the Maze. However, jams on 80 should be made up by the fact that the bridge has exceptionally light traffic (probably because they can't feed as many cars into the toll plaza now), so its easy to exit 5th or 9th street without too many slowdowns.

Ah, so the secret (yeah, I know about that one!) onramp to the BB is closed, eh? Good to know.

880 West, East, all that stuff confuses me too. To me, it's toward Richmond (then Sacto) and toward San Jose. Now, San Jose is south, right? So why don't they call that S<--->N?

I'll be using a lot of this info starting tomorrow, through Sunday. Usually, I'm not a regular freeway driver (or drive at all). Biking and especially roller skating are my preferred means of transportation. Knock on wood.

The S.F. Chronicle today (Weds) has an article (Business Section, front page, I think) saying that some of the online maping sites have made the adjustments, some haven't and YMMV!. Google Maps, Yahoo, and by now probably Mapquest have made adjustments. I haven't checked them out yet.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

511.org <-- all the info you need.

 

[Mxylplyx]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
To answer your question, drive down the 980 to the 880 as usual. Traffic should be relatively LIGHTER once you get on the 880. I'm afraid the 980-880 ramp might be jammed, but I havent driven that since the collapse.

The affected routes are:
Bay Bridge (I-80) => 580/24 ramp
I-80 East => I-880 (if you get on the 80 say at University or Ashby and are headed southbound)

But really, if you wanted to get on I-880 from Berkeley, you would be using 24. Only the newbs use 80 (unless of course you live right next to the 80, but for most students who live near campus, 24/980 is the smart way).

If you're going into SF, traffic will be heavy on the 80, and so MAYBE you should try the 24 and merge onto 580 to get to the Bay Bridge. The secret shortcut I use via W. Grand Ave via the I-880 ramp is obviously closed since hte 880 ramp is closed. For me, the bridge has light traffic, but its getting on that will be tricky. Carpool on the weekdays is perfectly fine, although I-80 West was completely jammed up the @$$ from Gilman to the Maze. However, jams on 80 should be made up by the fact that the bridge has exceptionally light traffic (probably because they can't feed as many cars into the toll plaza now), so its easy to exit 5th or 9th street without too many slowdowns.

Living in the burbs of B'ham Alabama, that makes my head hurt.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: Mxylplyx

Originally posted by: DLeRium
To answer your question, drive down the 980 to the 880 as usual. Traffic should be relatively LIGHTER once you get on the 880. I'm afraid the 980-880 ramp might be jammed, but I havent driven that since the collapse.

The affected routes are:
Bay Bridge (I-80) => 580/24 ramp
I-80 East => I-880 (if you get on the 80 say at University or Ashby and are headed southbound)

But really, if you wanted to get on I-880 from Berkeley, you would be using 24. Only the newbs use 80 (unless of course you live right next to the 80, but for most students who live near campus, 24/980 is the smart way).

If you're going into SF, traffic will be heavy on the 80, and so MAYBE you should try the 24 and merge onto 580 to get to the Bay Bridge. The secret shortcut I use via W. Grand Ave via the I-880 ramp is obviously closed since hte 880 ramp is closed. For me, the bridge has light traffic, but its getting on that will be tricky. Carpool on the weekdays is perfectly fine, although I-80 West was completely jammed up the @$$ from Gilman to the Maze. However, jams on 80 should be made up by the fact that the bridge has exceptionally light traffic (probably because they can't feed as many cars into the toll plaza now), so its easy to exit 5th or 9th street without too many slowdowns.

Living in the burbs of B'ham Alabama, that makes my head hurt.

You're lucky. I don't drive enough to comprehend the complex freeway system around here. It always amazes me how knowledgable the drivers are around here about it. I suppose if I drove every day I would be too. But I'd be subjected to the traffic nightmares that are endemic to the Bay Area. I figure I'm lucky. All my jobs where I had to do a regular commute, I've either gone against the prevailing traffic current or been able to take the trains. Again, knock on wood.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Originally posted by: Muse
You're lucky. I don't drive enough to comprehend the complex freeway system around here. It always amazes me how knowledgable the drivers are around here about it. I suppose if I drove every day I would be too. But I'd be subjected to the traffic nightmares that are endemic to the Bay Area. I figure I'm lucky. All my jobs where I had to do a regular commute, I've either gone against the prevailing traffic current or been able to take the trains. Again, knock on wood.

Although I don't drive it regularly, I understand it well enough. If you want a really bad interchange, look at the google map for the I-5/buisness 80/US-50/99/other streets interchange in Sacramento. You'll wonder how people don't get lost just staying on the freeway.

Edit:
5/50/Bus80/99 interchange

McAurther Maze

 

[Muse]

Ouch! That Sacto exchange... add some meatballs and sauce and you have my idea of spaghetti.

So, looking at the MacArthur interchange, which ones are down? Is there a site that shows this? Was there a map and clear explanation in the S.F. Chronicle or Oakland Tribune yet? If so, what day? I can get that at my local library.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Yes. 511.org has clear maps with the affected areas well marked.