A closed Bay Bridge made the morning commute into San Francisco a tough affair, jamming public transit and clogging freeways.
"It was a tough commute everywhere -- from roads to (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to ferries," said John Goodwin of the Metro Transportation Commission. "It's taking people longer to make their commutes this morning than usual.
"Alternate routes were clogged most of the morning, and so were the approaches to those routes."
As repair crews and engineers worked to fix a snapped metal rod cable that forced indefinite closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, traffic this morning on other bridges into the city slowed to a crawl. Officials say the Golden Gate, San Mateo and Richmond bridges all were jammed with traffic, as were Interstate 880 between Alameda and Union City.
BART parking lots filled quickly, and a steady stream of cars dropped off passengers at stations as commuters sought alternate routes into San Francisco this morning. Extra BART cars were added to handle higher passenger loads.
Many commuters also turned to ferries, although demand fluctuated. At East Bay Ferries, there was no increased demand for service from Alameda and Oakland to San Francisco, "even though we increased service to every half hour," manager Ernest Sanchez said.
On the route between Bay Farm Island and San Francisco, however, passenger loads increased 75 percent.
"We don't really know why there was a difference," Sanchez said.
Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said crews worked throughout the night on the Bay Bridge, and all parts needed for the bridge repairs were delivered to work site. The repair work is being handled by a North Highlands company, MCM Construction, which has done extensive bridge and freeway work in California.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 26,435 people in the Sacramento region commute more than 90 minutes to work, with most expected heading to the Bay area. CHP officer Rich Wetzel in Sacramento offered advice for motorists heading to San Francisco.
"For Sacramento folks wanting to go to San Francisco, I suggest they grab Amtrak and take it to Richmond and then use the BART system," he said. "Or you can drive to the El Cerrito, Richmond, or Pittsburg BART stations, but the lots are filling up."
BART, he said, had extra cars and trains to handle the increased demand.
"There is also the ferry system," he said. "Go to Vallejo, Alameda or Sausalito."
This is not the day to go to San Francisco for fun. And if work can be done without physically being in San Francisco today Wetzel has this advice: telecommute.
"Traffic is already heavy near the maze," said Wetzel, referring to the area near the east end of the bridge in downtown Oakland and Berkeley where interstates 80,880, 980 and 580 all converge.
Amtrak's Capitol Corridor system suspended bus service between Emeryville and San Francisco. Instead, train passengers will have to transfer to BART at the Richmond station.
Call The Bee's Bill Lindelof, (916) 321-1079.
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