Semi trucks have not been allowed on Oakland’s I-580 in 74 years, as big rigs have had to take I-880 instead. Caltrans is considering undoing that policy, and everyone who lives anywhere near either interstate has an opinion about it.
For the last 74 years, semi trucks have not been allowed on a roughly ten-mile stretch of Oakland’s Interstate 580 (or technically, vehicles of more than 4.5 tons cannot drive on I-580 between Oakland’s Grand Avenue near Lake Merritt and San Leandro, with exceptions for buses and shuttles). It was a move designed to alleviate air pollution, congestion, and noise, and big rigs have the parallel, alternate path of I-880 which is closer to Okaland’s warehouse and industrial district, keeping trucks off the hillier and more suburban setting of I-580. The two nearby routes can be seen below.
But now the Chronicle reports that Caltrans is considering allowing semi trucks back on I-580, where they have not driven in three quarters of a century. The proposal was spurred by something called the 2019 West Oakland Community Action Plan that advocates for cleaner air and lower emissions in West Oakland. But at a Caltrans virtual meeting this month, about 400 people logged in and those who live near I-580 were extremely unenthusiastic about the idea.
“People at the meeting were talking about how these big commercial vehicles would tear up the roads, how the exits aren’t big enough for them to get through,” Castro Valley resident Hiro Makino told the Chronicle “I think everyone was generally aligned in their opposition.”…