Mr. Roadshow returns from unexpected maintenance
QDid you cancel Roadshow and not tell anyone? Imagine my shock for the last week with no Roadshow. Yes, I am aware I can get Roadshow online, but I still like having a paper in hand. So I hope Roadshow isn’t gone. — Mark Hellmer
AI’m not gone, but a very swollen and discolored leg had Mrs. Roadshow emailing photos to my doctor who minutes later ordered me to her office immediately. After seven days in the hospital and more antibiotics than I’ve ever taken, I’m back and ready to roll. Thanks to everyone who messaged their wellwishes, to the wonderful doctors and nurses, and Mrs. Roadshow.
QAbout all that truck traffic on Ygnacio Valley Road near Clayton, remember with the building boom in the Bay Area comes more truck traffic. If you think it’s bad now, back in the late ’60s and early ’ 70s when BART was being built there was also a sand quarry where Contra Costa College is now. Back then there were more trucks on Ygnacio than cars and that was a seven- day-a-week operation. So it has always been a busy truck route. — ElvinWatkins, Walnut Creek
AAnd will remain so. Reader Jarl de Boer says truckers can either go through downtown Concord or on Ygnacio Valley, which is the most direct route to Interstate 680.
QWould you provide clarification on the new Interstate 680 Express/HOV lanes in Contra Costa County? There are still signs that say HOV 2+ people. Can a person with a FasTrak/ Flex device select 1, pay the toll and use the lane? — Mike Cassday, Danville
AYes. Solo drivers with old transponders can use the express lanes for a toll and those with the new flex tags can do the same by setting it on 1.
QI noticed a number of single drivers using the new Express Lane on I- 680 between Walnut Creek and Pleasan- ton. What was surprising was how many of them would weave in and out of the Express Lane when they approached one of the overhead cameras. Is this legal? — Dean Gelvin, Pleasant Hill
ANo, but traffic officials believe this practice will ease over time. Since the FasTrak lanes opened on nearby Interstate 580 last year, there has been a 20 percent drop in carpool lane violations.
QThe new express lanes on I- 680 don’t have double white striping between these lanes and the regular lanes like they have on I- 680 south of Sunol. Why? — Judy Knight
AAll new express lanes will have the same look. This change came after driver protests that double-white lines made it difficult to reach some exits over the Sunol Grade and onto Highway 237.