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Completion of the 92/880 Interchange Reconstruction Project Brings Congestion Relief for Bay Area Motorists

October 7, 2011
Relief has begun for the over 235,000 daily commuters who use the State Route 92/Interstate 880 interchange in Hayward thanks to a major reconstruction of the facility, which serves traffic heading to and from the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. Officials from Caltrans, the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA, a sister agency to MTC), the Alameda County Transportation Commission (ACTC) and the city of Hayward gathered today to celebrate the completion of the $245 million project.

“Caltrans has been diligently working with its partners in to help relieve traffic congestion and improve the quality of life for residents and daily commuters, as well as improve goods movement for area businesses,” said Caltrans Acting Director Malcolm Dougherty

The new interchange features:

• New eastbound State Route 92 to northbound Interstate 880 connector ramp
• New westbound SR-92 to southbound I-880 connector ramp
• Widened southbound I-880 to westbound SR-92 connector ramp
• Reconstruction of Calaroga Bridge
• Reconstruction of Eldridge Pedestrian Overcrossing for ADA compliance
• Improvements at Hesperian Boulevard Interchange
• Added auxiliary lanes on I-880, from Winton Avenue to SR-92 and from SR-92 to Tennyson Road in both directions.

“We have been very pleased with the construction of this complex and successful project. In order to complete the project, we had over 2,500 closures, often requiring detours affecting at least one direction of travel at the interchange,” stated Bijan Sartipi, Caltrans District 4 director and an MTC/BATA commissioner. Despite the complexity, Caltrans and the two prime contractors, Flatiron Construction and Granite Construction, achieved a cost savings in excess of $1 million while creating thousands of direct and indirect jobs in the transportation industry.

The project was funded primarily by the MTC-sponsored and Bay Area voter-approved Regional Measure 1 (RM 1), which established a base auto toll of $1 for all seven state-owned Bay Area toll bridges. The revenues generated by the toll increase were identified for use for certain highway and bridge improvements, public transit rail extensions, and other projects that reduce congestion in the bridge corridors. The project also includes $9.6 million from Alameda County voters' passage of Measure B, a half-cent county sales tax.

"This is certainly a day for celebration and to say ‘Thank You’ to Bay Area voters and tollpayers,” commented Alameda County Supervisor and MTC Commissioner Scott Haggerty. “Completion of the 92/880 Interchange project wraps up the entire Regional Measure 1 program approved by voters back in 1988. Toll funds were used not only to provide relief for the congestion that has bedeviled the 92/880 Interchange for decades, but also to finance the new Benicia-Martinez and Carquinez bridges, the San Mateo/Hayward Bridge widening, rehab of the Richmond/San Rafael Bridge, construction of the Richmond Parkway, improvements to the Dumbarton Bridge approaches and several other projects."

Community involvement with the 92/880 Interchange project helped Caltrans to minimize impacts during construction.

“The 92/880 interchange project represents a partnership between Caltrans and the city of Hayward, most notably the neighborhood Citizens Advisory Committee who helped steer the project and ensure that the interchange was constructed in a manner that met the goals of the project while minimizing the impact to city residents,” commented f Hayward Mayor Michael Sweeney. “The fact that this project was able to be constructed in such a fashion speaks to the impact that citizens can have on the transportation planning process.”

See background information and before and after maps here.