Results tagged “baybridge”

One lane on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge was shut down during this morning's commute due to a dangling wire. But have no fear, the wire, which is used to power lights in the tunnel, is not a symptom of the bridge's structural integrity, or lack thereof.

In an effort to get motorists to slow down on the Bay Bridge, CHP officers had a "crackdown" in the bridge yesterday. CBS 5 reported that officers "issued 34 citations for speeding and arrested someone for driving under the influence. The crackdown was carried out between 11 p.m. Wednesday and 4 a.m. Thursday." This comes on the heels of a big rig toppling over the bridge on Monday. Also, later this month, "radar signs will also be installed to show drivers how fast they are going as they pass."

High speed is being blamed for yesterday's Bay Bridge fatality, or so says Caltrans. The accident -- where a big rig truck toppled over the bridge at around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, killing the driving and reducing the truck to a pile of rubble -- occurred because the driver was going way traveling around 50 mph, or so said witnesses at the scene.

On Friday night, a carjacker was the first civilian vehicle to cross the entire Bay Bridge since its Wednesday closure. "[A] carjacking suspect in a Dodge Nitro made it onto the bridge from San Francisco's Sterling Street ramp, blowing through the barricades around 10:20 p.m.," reported SFGate. The suspect was eventually arrested in Oakland.

Good news! The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will reopen by 9 a.m. today. Although it was initially reported that the bridge will remain closed during this morning's commute -- and, for the most part, it has -- it will open.

Bad news. The Bay Bridge will remain closed over the weekend. According to CBS 5, "officials said the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge would likely stay closed through the weekend and were unsure if it would open in time for Monday's morning commute."

KRON 4 Morning News reports that the Bay Bridge will not reopen for Friday's evening commute.. Please visit 511 for more information on rerouting your vehicular trip home, which you probably know by heart at this point. Also, to all of you telecommuting from home today due to the closure: kudos to you.

              

The Bay Bridge is, as most of you already know, still closed today. Yesterday's BART commute was either "just fine" or "insanely crowded," depending on the passenger. Eastern SOMA still remains joyfully (albeit eerily) quiet. No word of when, exactly, the Bay Bride will reopen, though some media outlets are suggesting it might be ready for traffic come nightfall.

While the Bay Bridge remains closed this morning, Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney told reporters, "We are going to do everything we can to open the bridge today." Caltrans is working on inserting new tie rods into the "repaired" portion of the bridge.

Schlomo snapped and posted this image of the car injured in yesterday's Bay Bridge snafu.

            

After a cable rod snapped during last night's commute, the Bay Bridge closed down indefinitely. Here are some images of just how the closure is affecting San Francisco and the Bay Area today.

Another thing regarding today's Bay Bridge closure: please send us you images of your packed BART rides. We imagine today's commute will be hellish, and we'd hate for the world not to see. So, if you can, please snap a few shots of riders complaining about overcrowding your BART ride today.

Maybe you haven't heard, but due to a snapped cable during yesterday's evening commute, the Bay Bridge is closed today. And possibly tomorrow. It's closed indefinitely. Anyway, 511 has a list of Bay Bridge alternatives.

After a snapped support cable struck three cars on the upper deck at around 5:45 p.m., the Bay Bridge was shut down in both directions this evening to check the structural integrity, according to ActionNewsSF.

Additional high wind advisories are in effect for two Bay Area bridges this morning. "Motorists on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge are advised that gusts reaching 50 mph are forecast for both roadways today." This, of course, is in addition to the high wind advisory for the entire San Francisco Bay Area.

Westbound travelers going over the bridge, listen up: a Safeway big rig truck overturned on the Bay Bridge, which has since caused an INSANE amount of traffic back-up. According to KTVU, the big rig tipped over at the new s-curve portion of the bridge on the top part of the span. The accident happened around 2:30. It's blocking "4 out of 5 lanes."

A water main broke, affecting the lower deck of the Bay Bridge. According to KRON 4, it's shooting water onto the two right lanes (fun!) heading east toward Yerba Buena Island. Expect traffic delays getting onto the bridge this morning. No injuries or accidents have been reported.

Apparently not all S-curves are a good thing. Ye olde Chronicle reported today that "the drive time from San Francisco to Oakland during the evening commute has taken 57 percent longer, on average, than it did a year ago." And what's to blame, you ask? Why, the new s-curve, of course.

Over at Curbed, we came across Flickr photog sirgious' spectacular industrial age-ish photo of the new Bay Bridge expansion in progress. Above is the "temporary structure that will support the new bridge before the suspension cable is installed." And you can almost picture a daredevil doing the Charelston on top of it.

State-owned bridges like the Bay and San Mateo Bridges may face a toll hike of a dollar (from $4 to $5) in the next year in order to cover costs for retrofitting bridges like the Antioch and Dumbarton bridges, which are apparently also due for collapse in the next big earthquake (along with the Bay Bridge's current eastern span). Why bridges built in the 70s and 80s would need retrofitting is beyond us, but obviously a testament to the fact that government has always cut corners wherever possible. The Golden Gate Bridge, which is privately owned, has had a $5 toll for several years now.

Caltrans will extend Labor Day Weekend's Bay Bridge closure by an additional day. The extra day is needed to seamlessly shove in a section of bridge bypass at the tunnel. So, the bridge will close at 8 p.m. on Thursday Sept. 3, then open again at 5 a.m. on Tuesday Sept. 8. The bridge, by the way, will be closed in both directions. According to reports, this extra day will make "the first non-holiday weekday that the bridge has been closed since 1989 when the Loma Prieta earthquake collapsed part of the bridge deck."

Have a great weekend and be sure to wear your sunscre-- oh, wait. Sorry. As of posting this gloriously chilly image, it's a cozy 49 degrees outside.

The Bay Bridge will close down over the Labor Day weekend. Again. CalTrans announced today that they will shutdown the bridge across the bay in both directions on Friday night, Sept. 4, until Tuesday morning, Sept. 8. According to SFGate,"the closure will allow construction crews to cut a portion of the existing double-deck eastern span near Yerba Buena Island, and slide it out. In its place, they'll roll in a new double deck section that will re-route traffic onto a curving temporary bypass for three to four years." This work is all a part of the new eastern span, which is expected to open in 2013.

Mmm, delicious progress.

On the reeking pavement, in the darkness of a moonless night under the dripping rain, and surrounded by a hastily gathered crowd of wondering strangers, Norton I, by the grace of God, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, departed this life. -- San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 1880

"A small plane has crashed into San Francisco Bay near the new Bay Bridge construction. There are reports at least two people may have been rescued," screams CBS 5's homepage. (For a live copper at the scene, go here.) According to the Gate, at 2 p.m. a "single-engine plane crashed into water off the Bay Bridge" 500 or so yards from the Emeryville shoreline.

According to KTVU's Gasia Mikaelian, a fire on Yerba Buena Island is affecting traffic on the Bay Bridge. It's on the west side of Yerba Buena just under the bridge. It is not inside the tunnel, you see, but on the vegetation on the hill. So far one lane is blocked on the southwest side of the bridge. You might want to re-plan your commute home; there's no guess as to when the fire will be put out.

Although the National Transportation Safety Board has yet to release its report on the causes of last year's crash, today the pilot of the Cosco Busan, John Joseph Cota of Petaluma, was charged in federal court. The feds, it seems, found him in violation of two federal laws when he accidentally steered the container ship into the Bay Bridge on November 9 2007, which then released 53,000 gallons of oil into the bay.

Is there anyplace in San Francisco more charming than SOMA at night? No, there is not. And this President's Day, it'll be even charminger: construction and traffic reroutes on the Bay Bridge may cause a few heavy-flow days over the holiday weekend. If you're clever, you'll probably want to avoid SOMA in the late-night and early-morning hours. But then again, if you're clever, you probably already do.

Is there something about the Macarthur Maze that makes it easily flammable? There's a one to two hour delay basically in all directions after another fire closed down the onramps to the westbound Bay Bridge. Sounds like today's fire broke out in the joints of the bridge, though, so it's not another truck careening out of control and slamming into a pole, at least. No injuries reported either, which we're also glad to hear.