The Mercury News

Drivers denounce ‘horrible’ interchang­es in the East Bay

- Gary Richards Columnist

QIf your readers think the interchang­e at Interstate 880 and Highway 101 is bad, then they must not drive in the East Bay. Horrible it is. — Fred Reyes, Oakland

AThe 101-880 interchang­e ranked as the worst in the Bay Area in a Roadshow survey. Using “horrible” is popular today. As for the East Bay …

QThere are several interchang­es that were not even mentioned. Some that come to mind include 80-580-880 (MacArthur Maze), 24-580, 880-92, 10185 in South San Jose and 280-680-101. I am inclined to agree with you that 101880 is the worst. I’d put the MacArthur Maze second and 880-92 third. — Lee Taubeneck, Palo Alto

AYour ranking of 88092 as No. 3 on the horrible list surprises me, since that was rebuilt in the late 1990s.

QI have to deal with the Interstate 580680 interchang­e. I try to avoid it as much as possible by using city streets to get onto other 680 on-ramps. I have witnessed many crashes. It is horrible. — Ed Silk, Dublin A The 580-680 interchang­e came in second.

Q

The 101-880 interchang­e is the worst part of my day. Sometimes I just drive right by it and go to First Street, turn around and get on 101 from the other direction. — Joyce Newlan

A And …

Q On the bright side, at least the Highway 92 interchang­e at El Camino Real in San Mateo is nearing completion. Now, they’ve just got to fix the 92-101 interchang­e. — John P.

AIt’s high on the wish list. This could cost $160 million, and money could come from the new state gas tax and a proposed sales tax hike in San Mateo County.

QHere’s an idea for a fix at the Highway 101 interchang­e at Highway 25 west of Hollister — a diverging diamond interchang­e. Reverse the direction of the lanes on the bridge and put in either a traffic light or roundabout on the east side to straighten it out. — Roy Engehausen , Prescott, Arizona

AThis design may be considered at Interstate 280 and Wolfe Road in Cupertino, which would be the first in the Bay Area. One planned for Highway 120 in Manteca should be under constructi­on this year and would be the first in California.

This would shift overpass traffic in an “X” way and require traffic on the freeway overpass or underpass to briefly drive on the opposite side of the road. This requires fewer traffic signals, eliminates leftturn lights and reduces crashes by as much as 33 percent. Popular Science magazine listed this as one of the best engineerin­g innovation­s on our roads.

Join Gary Richards for an hourlong chat noon today at www.mercurynew­s. com/live-chats. Follow Gary at Facebook. com/mr.roadshow. Contact Gary Richards at mrroadshow@ bayareanew­sgroup.com or 408-920-5037.

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