destroyed section
X Marks the spot where fireball destroyed the two routes

freeway2.jpg
Normal exit from bridge to 880 south of destroyed section

freeway3.jpg
West Grand meets up with 980/24 towards downtown Oakland

What Happened and What To Do

So I wake up this morning to discover that a fireball had destroyed part of the Bay Bridge interchange commonly referred to as the “Maze.” Curiously with all the descriptions of what was destroyed none of the local papers bothered to show a map until one was finally posted by the San Jose Mercury. This seemed kind of important since there would be no way to figure out how to traverse the area without a map showing the problem spot.

Not to belabor the point I decided to decode the problem for the locals and suggest the alternative routings. I am sure detour signs will be posted everywhere eventually, but the following is what I would do. Many detours are not designed with you in mind.

First of all only two roads are gone and both can easily be bypassed. Essentially what is lost is the route from the North Bay along the Eastshore freeway onto 880 South. This is bypassed by taking 580 and connecting to 980 and back down to 880 in Oakland. But since the 580/980/880 route will be a crowded and dangerous jumble I would suggest a more unique route that should be faster except when the Bay Bridge toll plaza is backed up. This entails heading towards the Bay Bridge then getting off on the last exit before the toll plaza, West Grand Avenue. There you loop around and join up with the folks coming off the bridge headed to the 880 freeway south of the collapse. It would be free wheeling all the way.

The other problem is coming off the bridge and needing to get onto 580 or 24. In this case I would suggest getting off the bridge at the first exit which is, again, West Grand Avenue to 880. But instead of following the 880 route you stay on West Grand Avenue until it meets up with 980 at which you go North on 980 which takes you to 580 or 24. This is about 12 blocks of city streets. The good news is West Grand is a big fast moving 4-lane boulevard with amenable and timed stop lights. It’s a clear winner. The only alternative to this would be to come off the bridge head towards Berkeley on 80, get off at Powell Street in Emeryville, then get back on the freeway headed in the opposite direction (a non-trivial and confusing maneuver) and take the 580 exit. You’ll see what I mean if you try it. It’s a nightmare. You have to struggle to get to the Powell Street exit then struggle once you are headed back in the opposite direction to get to the 580 exit.

related link:
Slideshow of disaster
raw video



  1. HOMER says:

    I drive a fuel tanker in St. Louis. I Have seen many accidents like this one. Out of literally dozens of rollover accidents I know of only TWO that were not the result of taking a entrance/exit ramp too fast. Problems arise from two main sources 1) New drivers not being familiar with the route and 2)Experienced drivers becoming over confident in their skills and equipment. Unfortunately, as a result, The drivers career is effectively ended and millions of dollars of damage. Very few companies have enough insurance (even at 2 million per unit) to cover this claim. There are very few “small” accidents involving fuel tankers.

  2. bill says:

    USE BART

  3. T.C. Moore says:

    Thanks, John. These are good ideas for getting around the blockage. Traffic is going to totally suck around here.

    Just glad no one was killed.

  4. MacBandit says:

    I think a fire destroys bay area freeway would be a better description. A fireball is a specific description for a kind meteor. If you say a fireball destroys bay area freeway some of us wonder if there was a meteor strike.

  5. Ken in Berkeley says:

    Our house is only a couple of miles away from the destroyed freeways. What a major bummer this mess is going to be. 🙁

  6. meetsy says:

    The traffic will be a mess…because Emeryville’s lights have always been miserable and about as well timed as an autistic white boy clapping at a black gospel sing-along. And, West Grand, although a good street, is clogged with trucks MOST OF THE DAY as it’s a “short cut” to the ports and it’s part of the industrial area of West Oakland. (Plus, San Pablo Ave, where it crosses West Grand can be a little difficult when traffic is heavy on San Pablo..because of the weird street grids after the Greyhound Station.
    All in all, it will be very interesting what happens tomorrow.
    BART would be hard pressed to handle a huge influx of riders, especially during commute times. It’s already near capacity in the evening rush. And, AC transit has already said they don’t have enough bus drivers or buses to handle a major increase.
    Good luck, East Bay!
    (Glad I escaped a year ago.)

  7. Awake says:

    gquaglia and other fundamentalist radicals here-
    I bet that you wish that the heading actually read:
    Fireball Destroys Bay Area — LIberal Carnage Described Here

  8. Awake says:

    There is no way that this could have happened on it’s own, there has to be a conspiracy hidden here somewhere.
    After all, there is no way that a steel and concrete structure would collapse like this, unaided, just because there was a fuel fire under it. Fuel burns at 1800 degrees, and steel melts at a gazillion degrees, and the concrete would have protected it, and there was some guy seen standing on the grassy knoll holding a hot-dog shaped device, and blah blah blah…
    Yes, I blame Bush for this happening… but it actually traces back to Clinton, because she once drove over that interchange. So let’s blame Hillary Clinton… yeah… that’s the ticket.

  9. Gwendle says:

    Actually, most of the time I agree with gquaglia. I wouldn’t refer to him as a fundamentalist radical, nor most posters on the site. Opinionated yes, radical no.

  10. RSweeney says:

    Somebody take Rosie there immediately, surely her engineering acumen will get to the bottom of this Rovian plot.

  11. Frank IBC says:

    Yeah, fire melting steel??

    C’mon, sheeple, who do you think you’re kidding? 😛

  12. A fireball is NOT primarily a specific description for a kind meteor. In fact that is not even the number one definition. I was using the primary definition, A BALL OF FIRE. Not a meteor.

    From Websters:

    Main Entry: fire·ball
    Pronunciation: ‘fI(-&)r-“bol
    Function: noun
    1 : a ball of fire;
    also : something resembling such a ball 2 : a brilliant meteor that may trail bright sparks
    3 : the highly luminous cloud of vapor and dust created by a nuclear explosion
    4 : a highly energetic person

  13. ChrisMac says:

    Hmm.. Thanx for the clearification..

    I thought it might have been nappy-headed-ho’s causeing fireballs again..

  14. huh? says:

    cluster fuck anyone?

  15. Brian says:

    I wonder how many people would rather use these detours than the more conveniently placed public transportation. I’d have to think that most people would rather ‘gut it out’ and be ‘free’ in their own vehicles than to take mass transit.

  16. MikeN says:

    I thought Arnold killed Fireball in Running Man.

  17. Fred Cisin says:

    Thanks, John,

    It was quite amusing to watch SF based newspeople trying unsuccessfully to identify which routes were affected.


    Fred Cisin

  18. Eric says:

    Does the steel melt or does it actually ignite?


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