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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

May 2007

Maze Meltdown Morphs Into Maze Miracle

High heat from the tanker fire caused the roadway above to literally melt. (Photo: John Huseby, Caltrans)

The overpass connecting the Bay Bridge to eastbound Interstate 580 collapsed onto the deck of the I-80/I-880 connector, shutting down traffic on two segments of the Bay Area’s busiest interchange. (Photo: Noah Berger)

Demolition began immediately. (Photo: John Huseby, Caltrans)

Workers survey the damage. (Photo: Noah Berger)

(Left to right) Caltrans Director Will Kempton answers questions at the site for U.S. Representatives Ellen Tauscher (D-Alamo), Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) and Jim Oberstar (D-Minnesota). (Photo: John Huseby, Caltrans)

Governor Schwarzenegger (center, with S.F. Mayor Gavin Newsom at left and Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, D-Oakland, at right) issued an emergency declaration allowing crews to expedite repairs. (Photo: David Paul Morris, San Francisco Chronicle)

(Left to right) Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Dale Bonner, secretary of the State Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, look on as U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer speaks at a press conference held at the Maze. (Photo: John Huseby, Caltrans)

The I-80/I-880 southbound connector opened to traffic ahead of schedule, a mere week after the meltdown, while work continued on closing the gap above. (Photo: John Huseby, Caltrans)

The Maze meltdown became the Maze miracle when two crucial East Bay freeway connectors closed by a spectacular accident and fire reopened well ahead of schedule — and when predicted traffic chaos failed to materialize.

News of the “Maze meltdown,” as the media quickly dubbed the incident, dominated local headlines and TV broadcasts for days after the fiery April 29 tanker truck accident on the connector between westbound Interstate 80 and southbound Interstate 880. The heat from the resulting fireball was so intense that it caused a section of the overpass just above — the connector between the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (I-80) and eastbound Interstate 580 — to literally melt onto the roadway below.

The two connectors are key elements of what is popularly known as the Maze, the multilevel web of roadways distributing traffic going to and from the Bay Bridge. According to MTC Director of Highway Operations Albert Yee, the incident couldn’t have occurred on a more crucial spot. “It’s the convergence of three interstate freeways, so it’s the busiest interchange in the Bay Area,” he said.

If there’s a “luckily” to this story, it’s that the meltdown happened in the wee hours of Sunday morning when the freeways were virtually empty, thereby averting any associated accidents or loss of life. The weekend timing also gave officials breathing room to work out a gameplan before the Monday morning commute.

MTC partnered with Caltrans and transit operators to quickly activate emergency services and to declare a free-ride day on all Bay Area public transit systems on Monday, April 30. They also scrambled to get the word out about commute alternatives via MTC’s 511.org traveler information Web site and 511 phone line, the news media, and other avenues.

BART added extra runs and cars, while the Alameda-Oakland Ferry added extra boats. AC Transit also boosted service. The information blitz, additional transit service and free rides did the trick: Come Monday morning, the Bay Bridge toll plaza was virtually empty as commuters took alternate freeway routes or took advantage of the offer of free transit rides. Traffic on the return trip in the afternoon also was light. While traffic volumes started to return to normal as the week wore on, MTC, Caltrans and the transit agencies were able to keep gridlock at bay.

Governor Schwarzenegger did his part by declaring a state of emergency in three counties, pledging to waive state contracting rules to expedite reconstruction and promising to pay for the day of free transit rides (the state also subsidized beefed-up transit service for the duration of the crisis).

More good news was unveiled at an end-of-the-week press conference held at the site of the meltdown. U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters was on hand to announce $2 million in emergency federal aid, which she called the “first installment of funds that will give construction crews the support they need to do their jobs.” Additional federal dollars are expected to follow once the full project cost is determined.

Meanwhile, work crews hustled around the clock to remove debris, test the viability of the damaged I-80/I-880 connector and make repairs. A mere week after the meltdown and several days ahead of schedule, Caltrans opened the I-80/ I-880 connector in time for the Monday morning commute. The same day, Caltrans selected a firm to rebuild the I-80/I-580 connector — C.C. Myers, Inc. of Rancho Cordova, Calif., which came in with a low bid of $867,075. The firm bet that it could earn up to $5 million more in bonuses by delivering the job in early June instead of by Caltrans’ deadline of June 27.

The Maze story became even more miraculous when crews finished the I-80/I-580 connector on May 24 — just 25 days after the accident, more than a month ahead of schedule and in time for the busy Memorial Day weekend. An S.F. Chronicle headline said it all: “A-MAZE-ING!”
— Brenda Kahn

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