MacArthur Maze
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The MacArthur Maze in the U.S. city of Oakland, California is a freeway interchange next to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Caltrans calls it the distribution structure. However, local traffic reporters and residents generally use "the Maze" to refer to the series of freeway interchanges in that general area. The MacArthur Maze is named after nearby MacArthur Boulevard and the MacArthur Freeway (Interstate 580), which in turn are named after General Douglas MacArthur.
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[edit] History
The MacArthur Maze was originally constructed as part of the construction of the Bay Bridge. It was significantly smaller in scale than today's complex, but at the time, was still an impressive interchange. There were three principal feeder routes utilizing ramps: a viaduct from the end of Cypress Street (State Highway 17) in Oakland; a viaduct from the end of 38th Street (U.S. Highway 50; 38th was subsequently re-named "MacArthur Boulevard") at San Pablo Avenue in Oakland; and the Eastshore Highway which carried U.S. Highway 40 along the shoreline of Albany, Berkeley and Emeryville.
Historic film footage of the early MacArthur Maze can be seen in the 1941 movie, Shadow of the Thin Man as Nick and Nora Charles drive off the Bay Bridge on their way to Golden Gate Fields in Albany.
[edit] Today
The MacArthur Maze is one of the busiest freeway interchange complexes in the United States. All freeways going to San Francisco on the Bay Bridge from the cities and communities in the East Bay converge into that area. Each of these freeways are also linked to each other creating a massive complex. In the roughly three square mile area of West Oakland that includes the four interchanges listed below there are 25 different routes that can be taken without having to exit the freeway.
[edit] The official maze
The official MacArthur Maze interchange lies just next to the eastern approach of the Bay Bridge and comprises of four intersecting freeways. Listed below, the freeways are described as going from the MacArthur Maze outward to the surrounding areas. Only the segments of the freeways in the immediate vicinity of the MacArthur Maze are described.
- The Bay Bridge - Interstate 80, from the maze, goes west into San Francisco.
- The Eastshore Freeway - Interstate 80 / Interstate 580 multiplex, from the maze, goes north through Berkeley and western Contra Costa County.
- The MacArthur Freeway - Interstate 580, from the maze, goes southeast through Oakland just below the Oakland Hills towards Hayward.
- The Nimitz Freeway - Interstate 880, from the maze, goes southeast through Oakland along the Oakland Estuary towards southern Alameda County and San Jose.
[edit] Other nearby interchanges
In addition to the official MacArthur Maze, there are three freeway interchanges less than a mile away that local residents also refer to as part of the MacArthur Maze:
- The Interstate 580 - Interstate 980/California State Highway 24 interchange. Essentially, the I-980 and HWY 24 is one continuous thoroughfare. Highway 24 brings in traffic from eastern Contra Costa County and connects to this interchange from the north. Interstate 980 goes through Downtown Oakland and connects to this interchange from the south.
- The Cypress Structure division, where San Francisco-bound traffic on Interstate 880 is diverted to the west towards the Bay Bridge and Berkeley and Sacramento traffic continues on to the official maze.
- The Interstate 880 - Interstate 980 interchange.
[edit] Railroad and BART
The Union Pacific Railroad (formerly Southern Pacific Railroad) tracks run right through the center of the MacArthur Maze, but often go unnoticed since every freeway passing near it does so on an elevated platform. In the north the railroad tracks parallel the I-80/I-580 freeway and in the south they parallel the I-880 freeway.
Some of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) trains operate above ground near the interchanges to the east of the MacArthur Maze. However, all trains operate at some point underground. Notably, the rail lines of BART converge in the same manner as the freeway systems. The Fremont Line follows the course of Interstate 580, the Pittsburg/Bay Point Line follows the course of Highway 24, and the Richmond Line follows the course of the Eastshore Freeway. All three of these lines converge underground near the Interstate 880-Interstate 980 interchange and then head west into San Francisco inside the Transbay Tube under San Francisco Bay.
[edit] Effects of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake
During the October 17, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake, which measured 7.1 on the Richter scale, the double-decked Cypress Street Viaduct on I-880 between I-80 and I-980 collapsed, crushing cars and killing 42 people. Traffic on the MacArthur Maze headed towards I-880 was re-routed to I-580 and I-980, and ramps leading to the former Cypress Structure were signed for local traffic access to Cypress Street.
The Cypress Street Viaduct was demolished soon after the earthquake, but was not rebuilt until July 1997, due to lawsuits by environmentalists and local residents. The rebuilt highway was no longer a double-decker structure. It was constructed around the outskirts of West Oakland, rather than bisecting it, as the Cypress structure did.
[edit] Locations, maps
- MacArthur Maze area
- Official MacArthur Maze interchange
- I-580 / I-980 / CA-24 interchange
- I-880 / I-980 interchange
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
- Traffic Camera (Windows Media format) looking north of the MacArthur Maze on I-80East/580West (right) just over the I-880 interconnect (center) (left is I-80West/580East) - from Caltrans Live Traffic Cameras
- Cypress Street Viaduct includes map of old MacArthur Maze with old U.S. Highway 40/U.S. Highway 50 designations
