Posted: Sat May 07, 2005 2:51 pm
Over the
past twenty years or so, Interstate 880 has been widened to eight-lanes in many
different parts of Alameda and Santa Clara Counties, California. But to many motorists'
dismay, Interstate 880 reaches a horrible bottleneck at Mission Boulevard, also known as
Calfornia State Route (CA-) 262. As of May 2005, CalTrans (the California
Department of Transportation) advised motorists of reconstruction at the
Interstate 880/CA-262 interchange. By definition, CA-262 is a high-capacity connector
between Interstate 880 and Interstate 680. The road has expressway qualities, meaning it has
high-speed standards, multiple lanes, a median and some stop-lights. Many
motorists from the Central Valley and Contra Costa County use the CA-262
connector on their commute to and from San Jose.
At the current Interstate 880/CA-262 interchange, Interstate traffic must squeeze to six
lanes to accomodate a certain overpass (i.e., items (3) through (6) in the map).
This six-lane configuration continues well south of the interchange, even with
Mission Boulevard's `high-density traffic` merging in, and extends to the exit @
Dixon Landing Road. After the Dixon Landing Road exit, the freeway opens to ten
lanes.
In the 1990s, CalTrans ordered a reconstruction of the Interstate 880/CA-262 interchange
to accomodate eight continuous lanes of Interstate 880 traffic (https://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/i880.htm).
The original completion date was projected as 2001, but state funds were cut
short during the dot-com bust. With construction finally beginning, the
projected complete date for the project is 2006. Thanks to research by
argatlam_roads, a newsposter from (usenet-group) misc.transport.road, CalTrans'
blueprints for the redesign can be found at https://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/esc/oe/project_ads_addenda/04/04-2332U4/Plans/as_advertised/.
Pictured below is the configuration of the Interstate 880/CA-262 interchange, taken in
May 2005. These photographs were taken as construction has begun, when no major
road-work had been performed. As a reference, all the numbers listed in the
graphical map above, (1) through (12), are used to identify these photographs:
(1) Interstate 880 south nearing the Mission Boulevard exit.
(2) Mission Boulevard connector ramp @ W. Warren Avenue
(3) Beginning of the "hairpin" ramp.
(4) Middle of the hairpin ramp.
(5) Descent of the hairpin ramp.
(6) Merge w/ Mission Boulevard, with the E. Warren Avenue exit approaching.
(7) Junction E. Warren Avenue
(8.) Northbound Kato Road. Although this is a California road, it looks like a
typical road in Pennsylvania!
(9) Security fences for the NUMMI plant. The plant's southern boundaries
straddle Kato Road
(10) Onramp from Kato Road to CA-262. Note how a blue-arrow is used in the
freeway entrance ramp. This colour is only used for Interstate entrance ramps,
however since a motorist has immediate access to Interstate 880 north and south upon
merge (thus marking CA-262's southern terminus), CalTrans has granted an
exception here.
(11) Interstate 880 south feeder-ramp, with a righthand exit for Gateway Boulevard
(12) Shortly after the merge w/ Interstate 880 south. Note how there are no lane
additions, even after high-amounts of traffic (from CA-262) merge here
throughout the work-week.