New Interstate 680 lane has Sunol Grade drivers doing cartwheels
Q About damn time they are adding a new northbound lane on Interstate 680 over the Sunol Grade. This should have been priority No. 1. No reason at all that we’ve had four lanes going south and only three north for the last few years. Getting home to your family and home life is way more important than getting to work. — Reg
A That’s an overwhelming sentiment. The northbound FasTrak/ Express lane will be under construction in a few months and should open in 2020.
Q Will they install double white lines to block drivers from entering the northbound FasTrak lanes at most locations like they have on the southbound side of 680? That is a royal pain. — DomPerez, Dublin
A Your pain will be eased. The new lane will have just a single white line except at a few spots. They’ll also remove the double white line southbound when work is done.
Q Do we get an additional lane or just a pay lane for FasTrak? — Gary Salusky
A It’ll be a FasTrak/carpool lane from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, as will be the hours on all new FasTrak lanes.
Q Can’t imagine this is going to work. Didn’t work going southbound. Guess they didn’t learn. — Rachel Richards
A Getting rid of the double white lines is one lesson learned.
Q Why not put a metering light on the Sheridan Road northbound on-ramp to cut down traffic on I- 680? That will ease a lot of the congestion. — Kevin Jameson
A Metering lights will be installed from Highway 84 to Interstate 580 down the road.
Q It is about time we Fremont people get back to our quality life. It is hell right now for going out from 3 to 7:30 p.m. Wherever you go, you will find cars that do not be- long to Fremont people, hogging the roads. — Anonymous
A That is the hope. And the final word comes from Hans, the Fremont Traffic Czar.
Q The evening traffic congestion on I- 680 through Fremont has become so bad that navigation apps have been telling commuters to get off the freeway, drive through Fremont neighborhoods, and then get back on the freeway. This has resulted in a horrendous impact to the local community and has prompted a series of extraordinary measures to keep the freeway traffic on the freeway — ramp metering, turn restrictions, stop signs, speed bumps and traffic signal delays.
While the start of construction is a positive step forward for the 680 commute, we know that construction activity in the corridor can make things worse until the project is finished in 2020. — Hans, the Fremont Traffic Czar
A Be patient folks. Help is coming, but construction will be no fun.