511 Contra Costa

According to mercurynews.com, fossil hunter Joshua Wyatt recently found the imprint of an avocado tree leaf- about 10 million years old- preserved in smooth rock like leaves flattened between layers of wax paper. The excavation of the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel has opened a door for paleontologists Keep reading >>

July 6-8 the far right lane (#4) of westbound Route 24 will be closed. Work crews will begin the closure at 7:30 PM and full closure will take place at 8:30 PM. The closure will take place until 4:00 AM.

During those nights, the Wilder off-ramp will be closed from Keep reading >>

Construction on the fourth bore is expected to enter a new phase this week with assembly of the road header on the Orinda side in preparation to begin boring a hole in the mountain. Jeff Weiss, Caltrans spokesman said, “There’s still a lot of work to be done building the Keep reading >>

According to caldecott-tunnel.org, Caltrans crews added sections of concrete barrier to the southern edge of the pavement on Fish Ranch Road, adjacent to the area where the new retaining wall is being built. The barrier will prevent errant vehicles from traveling off the pavement over the steep hillside.

Source: Keep reading >>

Work crews closed one lane of the Caldecott Lane just west of the Kay Street overpass on June 4th from 7pm to 11am on June 5th. The contractor, according to caldecottt-tunnel.org, was building a 240-foot right turn pocket at the southwest corner of Caldecott Lane and Kay Street. Caltrans Keep reading >>

Caltrans began tree removal on the Caldecott Fourth Bore Project the week of February 14, 2010. The trees were removed to provide space to build the tunnel, retaining walls, sound walls and for creating areas for project staging. Keep reading >>

Local News

• Caltrans director Randy Iwasaki to become chief of Contra Costa Transportation Authority
• The County Connection to change several schedules beginning this Sunday, Mar. 21, 2010
• BART track closures between Walnut Creek & Pleasant Hill scheduled for March 26-28, 2010
• New massive freeway project is likely to slow down

Keep reading >>

Happy Friday! If you haven’t been following 511CC on Twitter, here’s a summary of this week’s transit news affecting Contra Costa County and the Bay Area:

• BART will begin charging a daily parking fee on Feb. 22 at Pleasant Hill
• Federal money was approved for a new state route

Keep reading >>

After decades of waiting, commuters can celebrate the groundbreaking of construction on the Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore, scheduled for this Friday at 11 am.

The project aims to alleviate well-known traffic congestion along the bottleneck between Orinda and Oakland by creating a fourth bore in the existing Caldecott Tunnel. The Keep reading >>

Photo courtesy of Caltrans.

Were you stuck on the bay bridge traffic this week… yet again?

If you were commuting at night, gridlock was most likely due to the lane closures that began on Friday, December 11. (However–come to think of it–we’re not convinced it wasn’t also Lady Gaga and Keep reading >>