caltrans | 511 Contra Costa - Part 2

I-80 Interchange Improvements in West County

Major interchange improvements at San Pablo Damn Road, McBryde Avenue, and El Portal Drive will ease congestion and improve safety. The public is invtged to attend one of two meetings to learn more about hte project and provide input on the proposed landscaping and aestheic treatment. The two meetings are being offered to promote greater public partipcation.
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 from 6-8 p.m. at  Riverside Elementary school 1300 Amador St, San Pablo
Tuesday, September 25, 2012  from 6-8 p.m. at  Riverside Elemntary school 1300 Amador St, San Pablo
For more information visit the project website or phone Hisham Noeimi, Contra Costa Transportation Authority Project Manager at 925-256-4731

Contra Costa Transportation Authority and Caltrans Hold Public Workshop

Contra Costa Transportation Authority (CCTA) and Caltrans will hold a public workshop at 6:30pm on Thursday, March 22, to discuss the I-680/Norris Canyon High Occupancy Vehicle Ramps Project.
The workshop represents an opportunity for the community to provide input and feedback during the environmental review process of the $102 million, Measure J project.
The meeting will be in the Foutain Room of the San Ramon Community Center, 12501 Alcosta Boulevard, San Ramon.
For more information check out CCTA’s downloadable notice of the workshop.
 

How to get to San Francisco for $1

Did you know there’s a way to get from the East Bay to San Francisco in twenty minutes for $1?
The only catch – you need a bike.
Caltrans runs a Bay Bridge Bike Shuttle during weekday commute hours. These are the times when bikes aren’t allowed on BART, so it’s a bike-friendly (and cheaper) substitute.
The shuttle connects the MacArthur BART station and the Transbay Terminal. It only seats 14, and almost always fills up in the typical commute direction, so be advised to arrive at least 10 minutes early leaving Oakland in the morning and SF in the evening.

WEEKDAY MORNINGS WEEKDAY MORNINGS
Leave Oakland Leave San Francisco
6:20 a.m. 6:40 a.m.
7:00 a.m. 7:25 a.m.
7:45 a.m. 8:10 a.m.
8:30 a.m.
WEEKDAY EVENINGS WEEKDAY EVENINGS
Leave San Francisco Leave Oakland
3:50 p.m. 4:15 p.m.
4:40 p.m. 5:05 p.m.
5:30 p.m. 5:55 p.m.
6:15 p.m.

From the Caltrans website.
Moey M. of Yelp writes:
i can’t believe this shuttle gets anything less than 5 stars from anyone. it is one of the best services out there for bay area bike commuters. at a cost of a mere $1 to get over the bridge, the value is unbeatable.
i’ve never found it to be ridiculously crowded, but i travel in the reverse direction (live in SF, work in east bay) so maybe i have it easy.
would i like the shuttle to run more often? sure. do i wish the east bay riders would be less rude and pushy while we unload? totally. do the drivers occasionally thwart my plans by leaving a minute or two early? ugh, yes. even so, this shuttle deserves five glowing, radiant, commute-friendly stars from the bottom of my cyclist heart.
i love you caltrans bike shuttle!

Visit the BART website for more information on MacArthur BART Station. Note that the parking lot typically fills up by 7 AM.
Photo credit: Flickr/elithebearded

West Portal Soundwall Painting Completed

Caltrans has completed painting the temporary soundwall at the west portal of the tunnel. Workers began planting 77 fast growing evergreen Leyland Cypress trees between the soundwall and the curb. Near the conclusion of the project in late 2013 or early 2014, the soundwall will be demolished and the trees will be removed. The area between Caldecott Lane and the freeway – an area now being used as a construction staging area – will be covered with an earthen berm, 20 feet high at the crest, and landscaped with grass and trees.

Source:
Caldecott-tunnel.org

Bicycle Lane Closure

Caltrans closed the bicycle lane at the eastbound on-ramp to Fish Ranch Road. Bicycles were allowed on the freeway shoulder between the Fish Ranch Road on-ramp and the Wilder Road off-ramp. However, Caltrans is installing a drainage pipe along the shoulder and must close the bike lane to facilitate the work. Caltrans anticipates that the work will be finished by December 1, 2010 at which time the bike lane will re-opened.
Source:
Caldecott-tunnel.org

Lane Closures

Caltrans will close lanes 3 and 4 (two right lanes) of Westbound Rte. 24 and the Third Bore between 10PM and 4AM on Monday and Tuesday nights, September 20-21, 2010. In addition, the Fish Ranch Road on-ramp and off-ramp will be closed between 10PM and 5AM.
Caltrans will close lanes 1 and 2 (two left lanes) of Eastbound Rte. 24 and the Second Bore between 10:30 PM and 4AM on Wednesday and Thursday nights, September 22 – 23, 2010. The closure will begin just East of Claremont Avenue.
Source:
Caldecott-tunnel.org

Roadheader carves out first few feet of the fourth bore


The giant roadheader made a small ceremonial cut Aug. 8 for a public event, but it had to back out and wait for crews to use torches and other tools to cut out metal reinforcement embedded into the hill to stabilize the east portal of the tunnel.

The giant roadheader, which has a rotating cutter mounted on a boom, started boring Wednesday and had carved out about 10 feet of the new tunnel by midday Friday, Caltrans reported. “It’s exciting to see it finally boring through the mountain, scooping up the dirt, and moving it away,” Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss said at the construction site just north of the existing three bores of the Caldecott Tunnel on Highway 24.

Crews will be operating the roadheader 10 hours a day this week and 20 hours a day next week.

Source:

www.insidebayarea.com

Tunneling to begin Monday in Orinda

Caltrans contractors plan to start carving out the fouth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel on Monday. The roadheader that is being used for the project is a 130-ton, 54-foot-long and 14-foot-tall excavation device with a rotating cutter mounted on a boom. The roadheader will dig the 3,389-foot-long bore that will add two freeway lanes.
According to contracostatimes.com, the roadheader’s whirling teeth will dig into the hills after a short ceremony at 10 a.m. Monday to mark the milestone in the three-year construction project. Other machinery will dig the first few feet, and the roadheader will take over the excavation in about a week. Caltrans spokesman Jeff Weiss said, “There’s a very narrow window of opportunity to see the roadheader in the open. Then its underground until the project is finished.”  To read more go to www.contracostatimes.com.
Source:
contracostatimes.com

The Caldecott Construction leads to the discovery of fossils from millions of years ago

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 to search for fossils expected to give clues to old life-forms and climate change in the Bay Area. Private paleontologists hired by Caltrans already have found a tooth, likely a remnant of a camel, and dozens of remains of fish scales, plants and other bone bits. Read more about this, Mercurynews.com.
Source:
Mercurynews.com

On-Off Ramps and Third Bore Night Closures

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 9:30 PM until 5:00 AM. The Wilder on-ramp will be closed from 11:30 PM until 5:00 AM. July 6-8 the Fish Ranch Road off-ramp will be closed from 9:00 PM. Until 5:00 AM.
According to Caldecott-tunnel.org, Caltrans crews will be installing electrical conduit as part of the Fourth Bore Project.
Source:
www.caldecott-tunnel.org

Caldecott Tunnel Fourth Bore Construction Enters Phase Four

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 portal walls and retaining walls. Once that’s done we’re going to start boring and you’ll see dirt coming out of a new tunnel.”

Source:
• Caldecott Tunnel Construction in Phase Four- KCBS

Caldecott Lane Closure

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 and the contractor decided to do all the work over a weekend night instead of over the span of several nights or two weeks of shifts. Relatively heavy traffic on Caldecott Lane restricts daytime lame closures to a six-hour periods between 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. during weekdays. Those short work windows, and time-consuming start up and shut-down operations would have prolonged the project for a period of two weeks.
Source:

This week's headlines in transportation & transit: Mar. 13-19, 2010

Local News

Bay Area & California News

Did you know 511CC’s on Twitter? To receive these headlines, 511CC promotions, and more, follow @511CC.

This Week’s Headlines: Jan. 30-Feb. 5, 2010

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:

Caldecott Tunnel to begin construction this Friday, with groundbreaking at 11 am

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 estimated $420 million project cost will be funded by a combination of Contra Costa County voter-approved sales taxes ($123 million), a $1 bridge toll increase approved by Bay Area voters ($50 million), and Federal economic stimulus funds ($197 million).
Continue reading “Caldecott Tunnel to begin construction this Friday, with groundbreaking at 11 am”

Lane Closure Information for Bay Bridge Eyebar Repair Project

9096D_001

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 the 49ers).
Why the bottleneck? Labor Day weekend, workers discovered and repaired a crack in an eyebar on the bridge. In late October, the section underwent additional work. Last weekend, workers began a repair project on the eyebar that is expected to last three weeks. Until the completion of the project, factor the nightly closure of three westbound lanes and one eastbound lane into your travel plans.
Detailed information on Bay Bridge lane closures:
Wednesday (12/16/09) afternoon:
Upper deck (westbound) far left lane will be closed from Noon to 3 PM
Thursday (12/17/09) afternoon:
Upper deck (westbound) far left lane will be closed from Noon to 3 PM
Lower deck (eastbound) far left lane will be closed from 7 AM – 2 PM
Upper Deck (Westbound)
Three left lanes will be closed Sunday through Thursday: 10 PM – 5 AM
Friday nights: 11 PM – 8 AM
Saturday nights: 11 PM – 9:30 AM
Lower Deck (Eastbound)
Far right lane will be closed Sunday through Thursday: 10 PM – 7:00 AM
Friday nights: 11 PM – 8:00 AM
Saturday nights: 11:30 PM – 9:30 AM
Additional information:
For daily updates on lane closures, visit the Bay Bridge Closures & Detours page.
Visit 511.org’s Bay Bridge information page for a map of alternate routes and transportation alternatives.
You lost me at ‘eyebar’. No worries–view detailed information and illustrations for the repair at: http://baybridgeinfo.org/eyebar

Caltrans to hold community meeting on construction plans for Caldecott Tunnel's 4th bore

This Thursday, Dec. 10 at 7 PM, Caltrans will host a community meeting on the upcoming construction of the 4th bore of  the Caldecott Tunnel. Caltrans officials will be on hand to answer questions from the community regarding construction, schedule, time line and community impact.
The meeting will be held at Orinda Community Center, 28 Orinda Way, Orinda.

Caldecott Tunnel Expansion
Map of Proposed Caldecott Tunnel Expansion

For more information about the project, visit the Caldecott Tunnel Improvement Project website.
Sources: Contra Costa Times, City of Orinda