Bridge to Nowhere: Bay Bridge Closed
by Claudine ZapOct 28, 2009
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge — the monstrous connector between San Francisco and Oakland in Northern California — wowed with its super-speedy work over Labor Day weekend. But on Tuesday night, the Bay Bridge suddenly closed again, with no clear timeline for when it will re-open.
What happened?
The goal had been an emergency repair on a structural beam on a cantilevered section, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Locals should have considered that the dress rehearsal: The fix only lasted seven weeks, when high winds apparently caused repaired parts to come crashing down on cars below during the rush hour commute. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt. But the Bay Area commute is sure taking a beating — and this time the bridge could be shut off to traffic for days.
The headache has caused Web traffic to surge on the Bay Bridge. One-day Yahoo! searches for "bay bridge closure" rose a whopping 22,600%. Commuters also looked up "bay bridge cable," "bay bridge news," and "bay bridge traffic."
Nightmare commute
And if you think your regular commute is a nightmare, welcome to the new normal: The normally quarter-million Bay Bridge drivers clogged alternate routes and bridges, and the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) commuter rail was standing room only, with a record number or riders. Lines to buy BART tickets ran seven deep, ferries were filled to capacity, and buses linked riders to alternative routes. BART has so far extended its trains, but not its hours, because apparently these things cost a lot of money. They're happy to do it if someone kicks in some cash, though.
Odd fact
The reason for the shut-down on Labor Day was to work on a new bridge that will replace the old one. Workers noticed the crack on the old structure and made the quick, not-so-effective fix. The 30-mph winds did in the eyebar repair, although officials say they think they have figured out a work-around. We sure hope they're right this time.
Get the latest info on the Bay Bridge closure.
