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Bay Area Commuters Face Nightmare

By MARCUS WOHLSEN (Associated Press Writer)

From Associated Press

April 30, 2007 7:51 AM EDT

OAKLAND, Calif. - Bay Area residents began potentially their worst commute in

almost two decades Monday, a day 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 commuters

since a 1989 earthquake damaged the 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.

 

Even before dawn Monday, traffic in the area was beginning to back up earlier

than usual.

 

Standing near the wreckage Sunday night, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed that

the state would respond quickly.

 

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 bus and ferry operators

also expanded service.

 

" 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 damaged 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.

 

Authorities urged motorists to take detours on surface streets but warned that

drivers who chose alternate routes would still face tough commutes.

 

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, police said.

 

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 above to buckle. Bolts holding the structure together also melted,

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.

 

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Associated Press writer Tom Verdin in San Diego contributed to this report.

 

 

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