[PRCo] Re: 3rd Street

[Fred Schneider]

For those confused with the subject and the actual topic ... I was  
starting to write a personal message to Jim Holland when I saw the  
headlines on Comcast.  Brain went into overload.

On Apr 30, 2007, at 9:48 AM, Fred Schneider wrote:

> Jim Holland:
>
> Is there an acceptable way around the East Shore Freeway / I-580
> interchange?
>
> This seems to add a new dimension to being "under insured."
>
> Thank heavens it wasn't farther west where 580 goes over BART at
> MacArthur Station.   That was my first reaction.   At least BART can
> still be hauling people today.   They must be hauling like gang  
> busters.
>
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> fws
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> Bay Area Residents Face Tough Commutes
>
> By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer
>
> 2 HOURS AGO
> OAKLAND, Calif. - San Francisco Bay area residents faced nightmarish
> commutes Monday after one of the region's most traveled sections of
> freeway melted and collapsed following a fiery crash.
>
> An elevated section of highway that carries motorists from the San
> Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to a number of freeways was destroyed
> early Sunday after heat from an overturned gasoline truck caused part
> of one overpass to crumple onto another.
>
> "I've never seen anything like it," said Officer Trent Cross of the
> California Highway Patrol. "I'm looking at this thinking, 'Wow, no
> one died' _ that's amazing. It's just very fortunate."
>
> Authorities predicted the crash would cause the worst disruption for
> Bay Area commuters since a 1989 earthquake damaged the Bay Bridge
> itself. The sight of a soaring freeway twisted into a fractured mass
> of steel and concrete was reminiscent of the damage from the Loma
> Prieta quake.
>
> Standing near the wreckage Sunday night, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger
> vowed that the state would respond quickly to the damage.
>
> Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency to speed up cleanup and
> rebuilding efforts. He also authorized free transit Monday on
> ferries, buses and the rail system that takes commuters across the  
> bay.
>
> Transportation officials said it could take months to repair the
> damaged interchanges, and advised motorists to use public
> transportation in and out of San Francisco. They added trains to the
> rail system and said drivers who chose to take alternate routes
> Monday would still face tough commutes.
>
> "People are going to have to find a different way to work and back
> home in the evening, so we are asking them to plan ahead and do their
> homework," said Jeff Weiss, spokesman for the California Department
> of Transportation. "This isn't going to be fixed in a matter of days."
>
> Nearly 75,000 vehicles used the portion of the road every day. But
> because the accident occurred where three highways converge,
> authorities said it could cause commuting problems for hundreds of
> thousands of people. State transportation officials said 280,000
> commuters take the Bay Bridge into San Francisco each day.
>
> Though heat from the fire was intense enough to weaken the freeway
> and damage a 250-foot stretch of highway, the truck's driver walked
> away from the scene with second-degree burns.
>
> James Mosqueda, 51, of Woodland, went to a gas station and called a
> taxi, which took him to a hospital, Cross said.
>
> A preliminary investigation indicated Mosqueda may have been speeding
> on the curving road, he said. Mosqueda was being treated in a
> hospital for burns on Sunday; efforts to reach him there were
> unsuccessful.
>
> He was headed from a refinery in Benicia to a gas station near the
> Oakland airport when the accident occurred, according to the patrol.
>
> The crash occurred around 3:45 a.m. on the MacArthur Maze, a network
> of ramps and interchanges at the edge of downtown Oakland and about a
> half-mile from the Bay Bridge toll plaza. Witnesses reported flames
> rising up to 200 feet into the air.
>
> Heat exceeded 2,750 degrees and caused the steel beams holding up the
> interchange from eastbound I-80 to eastbound Interstate 580 above to
> buckle and bolts holding the structure together to melt, leading to
> the collapse, California Department of Transportation director Will
> Kempton said.
>
> The cost of the repairs would likely run into the tens of millions of
> dollars, and the state was seeking federal disaster aid, Kempton said.
>
> Officials said the accident could have been deadly had it occurred at
> a busier time.
>
> San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the accident showed how fragile
> the Bay Area's transportation network is, whether to an earthquake or
> terrorist attack.
>
> "It's another giant wake-up call," Newsom said.
>