CalTrans assessing MacArthur Maze interstate connector collapse damage following gas tanker explosion

A section of eastbound Interstate Highway 80 to eastbound Interstate Highway 580 collapsed this morning following a gas tanker explosion. File photo.
Photo(s) by Luke Thomas

By Caitilin McAdoo, Ari Barak, Elizabeth Daley

April 29, 2007

Roughly 280,000 commuters feed through Oakland's MacArthur Maze to the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge every day, where a portion of the freeway collapsed this morning, according to Caltrans spokeswoman Lauren Wonder.

"The structure is heavily damaged," Wonder said. The Monday morning commute is going to "a nightmare," she added.

The connector ramp from eastbound Interstate Highway 80 from the Bay Bridge to eastbound Interstate Highway 580 collapsed after a tanker carrying 8,600 gallons of gas overturned and exploded at 3:42 a.m. this morning, according to California Highway Patrol Officer Trenton Cross.

The tanker was apparently traveling too fast on the connector ramp from westbound Interstate Highway 80 to southbound Interstate Highway 880 when it lost control, struck a guardrail and overturned, Cross said.

Heat from the explosion rose and caused 250 yards of the connector ramp from eastbound Interstate Highway 80 from the San Francisco Bay Bridge to eastbound Interstate Highway 580 to collapse, according to Cross.

Assessment crews are on scene now and will be evaluating the damage as soon as fire and CHP officials confirm that it is safe, Wonder said.

It was not known how far along the roadway before and after the collapse the damage extends, according to Wonder.

Caltrans highway engineers are headed to Oakland from Sacramento to further assess the damage, Wonder said.

The collapsed ramp from eastbound Interstate Highway 80 to eastbound Interstate Highway 580 will have to be demolished and then rebuilt, Wonder said.

"Unofficially, it's going to take months," Wonder said. "This is major damage."

The connector from westbound Interstate Highway 80 to eastbound Interstate Highway 580 is now open, but eastbound Interstate Highway 80 to eastbound Interstate Highway 580 remains closed, according to the CHP.

Traffic continues to flow onto the bridge. Travelers wishing to enter San Francisco from the East Bay may take Interstate Highway 80, which remains open.

According to Cross, the driver was not intoxicated but was traveling at an "unsafe speed," lost control and overturned. The driver walked away from the crash and took a taxi from a nearby gas station to Kaiser hospital in Oakland, where he is being treated for second degree burns to his hands, arms and face, according to Cross.

Travelers coming from San Francisco to Oakland or Hayward, as well as those traveling from Berkeley to Oakland, on Monday, will likely experience problems and should seek alternative routes or public transportation, Cross said.

Copyright © 2007 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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