Gas Tanker spill on 101 this afternoon cripples the entire SF Peninsula today...

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CAHighway99 - 30 Jan 2008 07:19 GMT

Hey Everyone,

Today's worst traffic situation in California didn't occur in L.A.,
but up in the SF Bay Area, where a woman driving a minivan was cut off
by a BMW driver, and drove into a gasoline tanker truck. The truck
flipped over, thousands of gallons of fuel were spilled, and the
result was the closure of both NB and SB 101. While traffic was
rerouted onto CA 85, CA 92 and I-280, traffic came to a screeching
halt on 101 for dozens of miles, while traffic levels on I-280, CA 85
and CA 92 reached nightmarish levels, with rush hour expanding beyond
9 P.M. tonight. The northbound lanes are still closed, while
southbound 101 has finally reopened as of half an hour ago.

Goodness, I can't imagine what will happen during the next earthquake;
geez!

The San Francisco Chronicle has photos and the story...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/29/MNQNUODKS.DTL&tsp=1

-Brent

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Peter Lawrence - 30 Jan 2008 08:25 GMT

> with rush hour expanding beyond
> 9 P.M. tonight. The northbound lanes are still closed, while
> southbound 101 has finally reopened as of half an hour ago.

Huh, when I drove northbound US-101 from Sunnyvale to Palo Alto at
around 9:45pm traffic was free flowing traveling at the limit and
relatively light. Maybe a lot of drivers were avoiding the Bayshore
Freeway. All the electronic information signs were mentioning that
US-101 was closed at Woodside Road and to use alternative routes.

- Peter

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Laurence F. Sheldon, Jr. - 30 Jan 2008 16:14 GMT

>> with rush hour expanding beyond
>> 9 P.M. tonight. The northbound lanes are still closed, while
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> Freeway. All the electronic information signs were mentioning that
> US-101 was closed at Woodside Road and to use alternative routes.

Been a while since I drove that route--did the last earthquake move Paly
north of Redwood? Redwood City used to be North of Palo Alto a ways.

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Peter Lawrence - 30 Jan 2008 23:10 GMT

>>> with rush hour expanding beyond
>>> 9 P.M. tonight. The northbound lanes are still closed, while
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> Been a while since I drove that route--did the last earthquake move Paly
> north of Redwood? Redwood City used to be North of Palo Alto a ways.

It's only four miles from the University Avenue off-ramp by Palo Alto to
the Woodside Road off-ramp on US-101 in Redwood City. Lesser accidents
on Northbound 101 in Redwood City have backed up traffic well into
Mountain View.

My guess is that most drivers heard about the closure and took
alternative routes to their destinations or decided to stay home during
the evening.

- Peter

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Scott in SoCal - 30 Jan 2008 14:46 GMT

>Hey Everyone,
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
>9 P.M. tonight. The northbound lanes are still closed, while
>southbound 101 has finally reopened as of half an hour ago.

Which has a bigger impact: closing the 101 in the Bay Area, or closing
I-5 at the Grapevine (which they just did again a few minutes ago)?

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CAHighway99 - 30 Jan 2008 18:07 GMT

> On Tue, 29 Jan 2008 23:19:19 -0800 (PST), CAHighway99
>
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> Which has a bigger impact: closing the 101 in the Bay Area, or closing
> I-5 at the Grapevine (which they just did again a few minutes ago)?

Just caught that one about 2 minutes ago. I think the obvious winner
here is I-5 in regards to interstate traffic (101 and CA 14/CA 58 are
thealternates in the event of I-5 Grapevine closure), although 101
certainly carries much more traffic (but has an alternate in I-280)
where the accident happened.

-Brent

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