New lanes, exits for I-680 are on the way

QWhen I read the Caltrans website describing the Interstate 680 work from Auto Mall Parkway north to Highway 84, it appeared that an express lane was going to be added on the left, and an exit/merge lane was going on the right. However, it looks like there will be no exit/ merge lane between Auto Mall and Mission. If this is the case, it will be a big mistake and a missed opportunity to improve the traffic flow in this area. Any updates?

— Charles Margiotta,

Livermore

AHere is what you’ll get. There will be a continuous-access express lane from just south of Auto Mall Parkway to just north of 84, plus a new auxiliary lane between Washington Boulevard and Mission Boulevard, where from 2 to 8 p.m. you have the worst bottlenecks along the northbound 680 corridor. The big change is drivers can cross over the single white dividing line.

The addition of an auxiliary lane between Auto Mall and Washington will come later when the express lane on north 680 is

extended between Highway 237 and Auto Mall.

The northbound express lane under construction will end at Paloma Way/Calveras Road, south of where traffic going to Livermore will exit (Vallecitos Road). There will be advanced signage and about 1,000 feet of distance for people to get out of the express lane and move to the right if they will be exiting to Livermore.

Alameda County is also working on the Highway 84/I-680 interchange and providing a two-lane offramp from north 680 to 84 going toward Livermore.

QWhen will the 680 express lane through Fremont be ready? It can’t be soon enough.

— David Nu, Dublin

ALate next year. That’s also when changes will be made southbound. The next phase is a gap closure project from 84 to Alcosta. Construction could begin in early 2023.

QI just got back from Sacramento and the pavement in the slow lane on Interstate 5 between

Tracy and Santa Nella looks like it melted and then had a million trucks drive over it. There are wheel ruts in the slow lane. Seems this paving is only two to three years old. This was a good stretch to drive but now it is getting dangerous in places. Is the contractor being held responsible for this pavement failure?

— Dana Clark,

Hollister

AYes, but there’s bigger news. Caltrans will soon begin a severalyear-long reconstruction project on I-5 through south Sacramento. The $370 million job, which includes replacing the road surface, will take three years. A portion of the 40-plus-year freeway wore down several years ago, and several major crashes occurred from vehicles skidding on the pavement in the rain. Dozens of concrete slabs have cracked in the last two years.