Prior to 1989, the I-880 'Nimitz' freeway was a two level elevated structure running southward from the I-80/580 'Bay Bridge' interchange at the top of this map and then roughly eastward to connect with I-980 near downtown Oakland at the bottom of this map (I-880 then continues southeastward through Hayward and Fremont before ending at I-280 in San Jose). EB I-80 and (NWB) I-580 both head north from this interchange through Berkeley and Richmond with I-80 continuing on to and beyond Sacramento and I-580 crossing the San Pablo (North) Bay northwestward to San Rafael. WB I-80 goes left off this map to cross the Bay Bridge into San Francisco (DON'T EVER call it 'Frisco'!!!!) and (SEB) I-580 heads off the map to the right toward Modesto and Stockton. I-880 is often referred to by the locals as the 'Cypress Freeway' as it followed the route of Cypress Street southward from the bridge interchange, although it was and still is officially called the 'Nimitz Freeway' (After US Navy Admiral Chester Nimitz).
In the fall of 1989, the strong 'Loma Prieta' earthquake destroyed the two level I-880 structure (with a significant loss of life) and left a major gap in the Bay Area freeway network. In the mid 1990s, after much local wrangling over the route, construction on a replacement for the former freeway was finally begun, with final completion expected by the end of this year. Also, shortly after the earthquake, Cypress Street was renamed to 'Mandela Boulevard'. There is a direct connection from the bridge interchange to Mandela Bd using the ramps leading to and from the 'old' freeway. This street passes through and serves a poorer residential and industrial section of Oakland's west side. The new routing of I-880 was laid out to avoid the residential area by using the 'air rights' over two very busy railroad yards.
An interesting feature of the new routing of I-880 is the connection from I-880 to the Bay Bridge following the route of W. Grand Av eastward from the bridge tollgates.
Thanx to Christopher Sampng (NFARS) for some of the info here. :-)
One change I would make:
>Although it is off of this map, redesignate CA 24 from I-580 in Oakland to I-680 in Walnut Creek as 'I-980'.
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