Collapse

This really wouldn't be the 880Blog without a mention of the Great Freeway Collapse of 2007. Technically the 580 collapsed onto the 880 with promises of the 880 being operational again within two weeks. It's taken me years, many years to put that the in front of the freeway number in my day to day speech, but in discussions of the recent calamity I find myself saying it with ease. The mark of a true Californian. I was out of town at the time of the highway meltdown but the Flickrers were on the job to give one a view of the action. I drove by on my way to the Emeryville Trader Joe's today and sure enough there's a big gaping hole in the freeway. Though I'm still not exactly sure which freeway. The traffic nightmare envisioned has not materialized unless of course you live along West Grand Avenue where suddenly a freeway has been diverted through your neighborhood. The CHiP's were out in force pulling over speeders on the Mandela Parkway (my way of choice into Emeryville) which is like shooting fish in a barrel. It's one way of paying for the repairs. The local traffic reporters have taken to calling it the 880/580 closure as if maybe there was a repaving project. Somehow nobody seems very surprised. Marvel of engineering that it is anytime a zillion freeways come together like that it's an accident waiting to happen. Score one for the telecommuters.