Font ResizeQ As I enter Livermore coming over the Altamont Pass from Tracy on Interstate 580 and continuing west into Dublin, there appears to be space for a carpool lane. I thought they were waiting for the Portola overpass to be completed, which it is now.
Chris Christophersen Sr.
A Construction of a westbound I-580 carpool lane from Greenville Road to Foothill Boulevard should start before the end of the year and be completed in 2015. Some of the minor pre-widening work for the westbound direction is done, which may give an appearance that the lane is ready. But the majority of work remains to be completed.
Q Man, did I have a laugh on the comment from the driver on Highway 24 upset with people holding up political banners and flags at overpasses, and who wants the CHP to stop this. It is hard to enforce, and seriously, most police departments have calls that take higher priority every day.
The idiots who want to whine about this probably whine about everything else -- lemonade stands without permits? The writer says the last thing he wants to do is slow down and take his eyes off the road. What? Doesn't he read street signs, Amber Alerts, commuter lane signs and so on? Are these signs more distracting than a banner? Here's a clue for these whiners: Don't look at the banners. Keep driving.
Dave Carlin
San Jose
Q When is Caltrans going to permanently fix the collapsing No. 3 and 4 lanes on Interstate 680 about 50 yards north of Monument Boulevard in Pleasant Hill? It is obvious that there is a problem with the freeway. I think that it has been repaired in some manner a couple of times before, but the sinking roadway is still occurring. The roadway is cracked. Shape up, Caltrans.
Ray Winter
Walnut Creek
A Caltrans knows about this, and the maintenance division is seeking emergency funds to make permanent repairs to fill in the void that has developed underneath the concrete slabs. The hope is that this work could be done before the rainy season starts.
Q I am hoping you can please let the people who live in Discovery Bay know how long the road work will continue on Highway 4. I am all in favor of roads being repaired, but they have been working (?) at it for at least two months, with the majority of the work starting about 7 p.m. and lasting all night, with loud trucks and the beep-beep-beep as they back up.
But the worst is the horrible stink from the road resurfacing. This goes on night after night, and there is no relief from the stink. Please tell us that it is almost over with.
S. McBride
Sleepless in Discovery Bay
A I hate things that go beep-beep-beep in the night. Paving should be completed Friday night and the highway will be re-striped next week. The entire project should be done early next month.
Q In the afternoon, a lot of traffic funnels from the three lanes running from San Jose on Highway 101 down to two lanes at the south end of Gilroy. Traffic moves pretty well and it is unusual to see a backup, as many get off to go Highway 152 toward Los Banos.
But another couple miles south, there is the exit to Highway 25, and this ramp gets all the traffic destined for Hollister. Every afternoon, traffic backs up, blocking the slow lane -- sometimes all the way back to Monterey Road in Gilroy.
Folks have taken to making the same error (trying to be nice, but an error) that caused so many accidents at the Pacheco Y (152/156) before the new flyover -- stopping to allow cross traffic to get from northbound 25 to southbound 101. This of course backs things up more and puts folks in jeopardy of getting hit from behind as they have to suddenly stop for no apparent reason.
What are the chances of Caltrans converting the shoulder from Gavilan College to Highway 25 to an exit-only lane? Short of redoing the overpass, this seems vastly more cost-effective.
John Noble
A It does, but there are no plans for the exit lane you seek. The Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority and Caltrans have plans for a major makeover of this interchange, but that is many years down the road.
Q I listen to KGO and KCBS daily to figure out my best routes getting to work. Why is it that all the bridges except the Dumbarton Bridge are updated as moving well, slow, etc.? I often feel like the Dumbarton does not exist to them. It would be nice to get updates from the newscasters, especially now that the traffic backs up to the high-rise every day.
They never talk about University Avenue or Willow Road, which see very heavy traffic, east- and westbound. And why is eastbound traffic on Willow taking forever to get through in the evening commute? It takes 25 minutes to drive to Facebook and Highway 84.
Melinda M.
A You just answered your own question -- Facebook, plus other growing companies along this route have brought a surge in traffic.
KCBS and KGO do mention traffic on the Dumbarton, but those reports compete with updates on busier bridges, from the Carquinez to the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate. You may want to tune in KLIV (1590-AM). Said John-the-KLIV-Man: "We serve the South Bay, so we cover the South Bay bridges like the 49er secondary covers pass receivers ... like a blanket."
He adds that the Dumbarton is especially hard to cover since the Peninsula approaches to the bridge take cars through residential areas that are jammed with narrow streets and traffic lights.
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