Traffic Rolls Out on Reopened Oakland Freeway
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OAKLAND — Eight years and $1 billion later, traffic flowed over the Cypress Freeway on Wednesday for the first time since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake collapsed the roadway and killed 42 people.
California Highway Patrol cars led the first convoy of vehicles, which rolled at about 5:04 a.m., said Caltrans spokesman Stephen Williams.
The roadway, now the most expensive freeway in the nation, opened in time to relieve the crowded morning commute to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
Motorists no longer have to drive through Oakland streets to reach the span, easing commuter gridlock. More than 118,000 cars are expected to use the freeway every day.
Caltrans said the expensive price tag--nearly double the original estimate--was the result of having to buy more property, clean up polluted soil and provide dozens of community improvements.
The five-mile Cypress Replacement Project, which linked Interstate 880 with Interstate 80, is 3.5 miles longer than the old stretch.
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