I-80 ’smart corridor’ still a challenge, drivers say

Q Since you asked about how people are driving on the new Interstate 80 “smart corridor,” I thought I’d give you my viewpoint. Mike Takacs Crockett A Fire away. Q I’ve been commuting from the Carquinez Bridge to Oakland for 14 years, and I’ve never seen it this bad.

I accept the idea that the new metering lights would take some getting used to, but it’s been over a month already and my commute is still 15 to 20 minutes longer than before the system was activated (now at about 1 hour, 15 minutes, for a 20mile drive).

It’s hard to tell why the metering lights are having such a devastating effect, because they often cycle faster than the freeway, so you end up stuck on the on-ramp, watching the metering light cycle redgreen-red-green with no place to go.

The lights are definitely having an effect on city streets. Fitzgerald Drive in Pinole is gridlocked during rush hour now.

Finally, there are the overhead signs for lane closures. One morning there was an accident that blocked a lane, so the signs recommended slowing to 30 mph. I was doing 15 mph at best all the way from Hercules to El Sobrante. Needless to say, I was late to work again.

And, you ask, so how are people driving on I-80 now? No need to worry about dive bombers. Everybody is going so slowly that the worse problem I’ve seen are people nodding off and slowly drifting into my lane. Mike Takacs A Give it some more time. With school back in session, there’s been a noticeable uptick in traffic and all upgrades just went active this week. There have been traffic operations teams monitoring sites in the field and analyzing data as it comes in, while providing adjustments where warranted.

The corridor between the Carquinez Bridge and the Bay Bridge carries 270,000 cars a day and is ranked as the worst in the Bay Area, with an average of 25 lane-blocking collisions/incidents weekly.

Reducing that number is why I hope this works. Q About the I-80 smart corridor, I have not seen any improvement with those big useless signs. The only metering light that makes sense is the Gilman Avenue one, but it’s still gridlock every morning. Like I said before: This is a waste of our tax money.

Juan Lores Richmond A Juan is Roadshow’s No. 1 skeptic of this $79 million effort. If he comes around, we’ll know it’s a success. Reducing crashes is the top goal. Q I drove from Los Gatos to Scotts Valley on Highway 17 on Saturday. I went 17 miles in 17 minutes. Must be some kind of record. Judy Mouns Cupertino A I’ll say. How fast were you going? Q I kept pace with the other traffic. Judy Mouns A I’ve heard that line before.