Press Releases

For Immediate Release

Caldecott Tunnel to Get New Motorist-Aid Call Boxes and Safety Signs

Safety improvements under way

CONTACT:

Reka Goode
510/510/464-7706

Marjorie Blackwell
510/464-7884

OAKLAND, Calif., Dec. 16, 1998...Motorists driving through the Caldecott Tunnel between Oakland and Orinda can soon expect a safer trip: The 48 call boxes that line the tunnel and its approaches along Highway 24 - in both directions - will be replaced over the next four months, as will the associated safety signs. The call box system that is being replaced has been in use for over 30 years, ever since the third bore of the tunnel was finished in 1964.

New caution signs will flash a warning to drivers entering and already in the tunnel that there may be trouble ahead - the signs are activated whenever someone lifts a call box handset inside the tunnel. Each new call box contains a cellular phone and is equipped with a sign identifying its location. The tunnel phones will be powered by electricity, with an eight-hour battery backup for each.

The new call boxes in the Caldecott will become part of the network of more than 3,400 bright yellow call boxes that have been installed in the nine Bay Area counties over the past 10 years to allow motorists to report road hazards, accidents, mechanical breakdowns and the like. The network is operated and administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE). A partner in the Caldecott project is the state Department of Transportation (Caltrans), which operates the current call box system in the tunnel and on the region's state-owned toll bridges.

The project got under way in early November when new electrical wiring began to be strung in the southernmost bore of the tunnel. Temporary, battery-powered call boxes will begin to be installed in late December, to bridge the gap between the removal of obsolete wires and breakers, and the final hookup of the new call boxes. The process of removing old call boxes and signs will get under way in January.

Also in January, with activities continuing in the first bore, work will begin in the middle and third bores. As new call boxes are installed, connected to the new wiring, and tested, the temporary boxes will be removed, beginning with the first, or southernmost, bore. Concurrently with the new boxes, new caution and identifying signs also will be placed. Along the way, new fire extinguishers will be installed where needed. The entire call box system, in all three bores of the tunnel, is expected to be operational by the end of April 1999.

Most of the installation work will be done out of sight of motorists, and is not expected to affect traffic flow through the tunnel. When necessary, one bore at a time may be closed at night, during the lightest traffic periods - between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4:30 a.m. - to complete the installation project.

Caltrans personnel stationed at the tunnel currently answer calls made from the tunnel call boxes. Starting early in 1999, Caltrans employees at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be the first point of contact for users of the call boxes. Calls received by Caltrans bridge personnel will simultaneously be reported to employees at the tunnel and to the Caltrans Traffic Management Center in downtown Oakland. The California Highway Patrol (CHP) will be contacted as necessary. The CHP answers calls from call boxes outside the tunnel, as well as from all other call boxes in the MTC SAFE network.

The total cost of the installation project is $1.3 million. Caltrans is funding more than $840,000 of this - about $90,000 for design, the rest for actual installation expenses. The remaining $441,000 of project costs will be allocated by MTC SAFE, which derives its revenues from the $1 vehicle registration surcharge levied in the nine Bay Area counties.

MTC is the regional transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC commissioners oversee the regional SAFE, with Caltrans and the CHP serving as partners on the project.

Fact Sheet

Caldecott Tunnel Call Box Replacement Project

Purpose New motorist-aid call boxes are being installed in the East Bay's Caldecott Tunnel, along with new caution signs that flash when the call boxes are in use. The call boxes will replace existing, antiquated ones, which have been in use for more than 30 years in the Highway 24 tunnel that links Alameda and Contra Costa counties. The new boxes are part of a regionwide network administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) Service Authority for Freeways and Expressways (SAFE), and allow motorists to report road hazards, accidents, mechanical breakdowns and the like. Quickly clearing such incidents improves safety and reduces congestion.

Project partners

• MTC SAFE operates and administers more than 3,400 roadside motorist aid call boxes in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the Bay Region.
• The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) operates the existing call boxes in the Caldecott Tunnel and those on the Bay AreaÕs state-owned toll bridges.

Technology The new call boxes contain cellular phones, as do all MTC SAFE call boxes. Unlike those in rest of the network, however, which are solar-powered, the tunnel phones will be powered by electricity. In addition, each box will have an eight-hour battery backup. When the handset is lifted, caution signs installed inside the tunnel and at the entrances will flash a warning to motorists. Each call box also is equipped with a sign identifying its location.

Number & spacing
The Caldecott Tunnel contains a total of 40 call boxes: 13 each in Bores 1 and 2 - of call boxesthe southern and middle bores - and 14 in Bore 3. Another eight boxes are located outside the tunnel, five on the Oakland side and three on the Orinda side. Each of the existing boxes - which are placed approximately every 250 feet - will be replaced. Project cost
The total cost of the installation project is $1.3 million. Caltrans is funding more than $840,000 of this - about $90,000 for design, the rest for actual installation expenses. The remaining $441,000 of project costs will be allocated by MTC SAFE, which derives its revenues from the $1 vehicle registration surcharge levied in the nine Bay Area counties.

Call answering
Currently, Caltrans personnel stationed at the tunnel answer calls made from the tunnel call boxes. Starting early in 1999, Caltrans employees at the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be responsible for this task, with tunnel personnel receiving simultaneous notification. Bridge employees will contact emergency services and/or allied agencies as necessary. Call boxes outside the tunnel are answered by the California Highway Patrol (CHP), as are all other MTC SAFE call boxes. Incident response
Tow trucks, fire, medical or police services will be dispatched as needed. During peak periods, the roving tow trucks of the Freeway Service Patrol (FSP) make a loop through the tunnel every 15 minutes, and are equipped to handle mechanical breakdowns and the like, towing vehicles when necessary. In addition, FSP drivers are connected by radio to the CHP for quick emergency response. Off-peak, Caltrans personnel travel through the tunnel approximately once an hour, and can contact appropriate services via radio.

Schedule of work
Most of the call box installation work will not be visible to motorists driving through the tunnel. Those installation-related activities that the traveling public would be aware of will be confined to the hours between 10 p.m. and 4:30 a.m., and may necessitate closing one bore at a time. None of the work is expected to affect traffic flow, however.

November 1998

• Installation of new electrical wiring begins.

December 1998

• Installation of new electrical wiring continues.
• Battery-powered, temporary call boxes are installed adjacent to existing boxes.
• Removal of obsolete wires and breakers begins.

January 1999

• Demolition work in preparation for placement of new call boxes begins. This includes removal of old call boxes and signs, and installation of new fire extinguishers as needed.
• Installation of new call boxes, and caution and identifying signs begins.
• Electrical work continues, including hook-up to new call boxes.
• Demolition work continues.
• Temporary call box removal begins as new call boxes begin to come on line. February 1999
  
• Electrical work continues.
• Installation of new call boxes and signs continues.
• More new call boxes become operational. March/April 1999
  
• Signs are installed outside the tunnel.
• Remaining temporary call boxes are removed.
• Entire call box system becomes operational. Contractors - Denbridge Digital, San Leandro, project management- Rosendin Electric, Inc., San Jose, electrical contractor- Comarco Wireless Technologies, Irvine, call box manufacturer

Tunnel facts

• Bores 1 and 2 are each 3,610 feet in length, and Bore 3 is 3,771 feet long.
• Bores 1 and 2 were built in 1937, Bore 3 in 1964. All three bores are reinforced concrete-lined, arched tunnels.
• The Caldecott Tunnel was designated a City of Oakland Landmark in 1980, and received a Preservation Award from the Art Deco Society of California in 1993.