Interstate 580 (California)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Interstate 580 Auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System
MacArthur Freeway Defined by S&HC § 618, maintained by Caltrans
Length:	79.97 mi[citation needed] (128.70 km)
Formed:	August 7, 1947 by FHWA[1] July 1, 1964 by Caltrans[2]
West end:	US 101 in San Rafael
Major junctions:	I-80 / I-880 in Oakland I-238 near Hayward SR 84 near Livermore
East end:	I-5 near Tracy
State highways in California (list - pre-1964) County routes in California (list) < I-505 I-605 > History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

Interstate 580 (I-580) is an interstate highway in Northern California. The heavily traveled, 80-mile (129 km) long spur route of Interstate 80 connects the San Francisco Bay Area to Interstate 5 in the state's Central Valley.

A portion of I-580 is called the MacArthur Freeway, after General Douglas MacArthur. Other portions are named the John T. Knox Freeway (after a former California State Assemblyman and Speaker Pro Tempore), the Eastshore Freeway (after its location on San Francisco Bay), the Arthur H. Breed Jr. Freeway (after a former California State Assemblyman and Senator), and the William Elton "Brownie" Brown Freeway (after a Tracy resident instrumental in determining the route of Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Valley)^[2].

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[3] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System^[4].

[edit] Route description

I-580 emerging in the Central Valley near Tracy, CA

I-580 at Palomares Road at the west end of Dublin Canyon

I-580 at the Altamont Pass Wind Farm

I-580 as it passes through Castro Valley.

The western terminus of I-580 is north of San Francisco in San Rafael, at a junction with U.S. Route 101. The eastern terminus is with I-5 southeast of Tracy. Leaving San Rafael, I-580 runs next to the San Quentin State Prison before crossing San Francisco Bay over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The road then passes through Richmond and El Cerrito.

In Albany, I-580 joins I-80 and then turns east at the interchange known as the MacArthur Maze. From here, it is known as the MacArthur Freeway which runs through Oakland and San Leandro to Castro Valley. About halfway to Castro Valley from the Maze, is an interchange with the Warren Freeway (State Route 13). Between this interchange and Castro Valley, I-580 runs near or along the trace of the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault.

In Castro Valley, I-580 turns eastward toward Dublin Canyon before descending into Dublin and Pleasanton. After passing through Livermore, the freeway enters the Altamont Pass. The road emerges in the Central Valley near Tracy, where, after Interstate 205 splits near the Altamont Speedway, it turns southeastward and terminates by merging with Interstate 5 near Patterson.

I-580 provides interstate highway access between San Francisco and Los Angeles since Interstate 5 runs east of the Bay Area.

[edit] Truck ban through Oakland

Trucks over 4.5 tons are prohibited through Oakland between Grand Avenue and the San Leandro border. Specifically, eastbound trucks cannot travel beyond the Grand Avenue/Lakeshore Avenue exit, and those going westbound must take the MacArthur Boulevard/Foothill Boulevard exit.^[5][6] They are instead instructed to take Interstate 238 and Interstate 880 as an alternative route through Oakland.^[5]

The truck prohibition has been in effect since the freeway was built in 1963 as part of U.S. 50. Both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) imposed the restriction, partly because the City of Oakland already had a truck ban through the area prior to the freeway's construction. Since then, the restriction was grandfathered in when the freeway was both renumbered and added to the Interstate Highway System.

For decades, the trucking industry lobbied to have the ban removed, but was unsuccessful due to local opposition. In 2000, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 500, adding the I-580 truck restriction into the California Vehicle Code.^[7] However, the California Highway Patrol has frequently allowed trucks through temporarily when major accidents occur on I-880 or I-238.

[edit] History

[edit] I-5 to Castro Valley

For the most part, the I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed over or alongside the right-of-way of U.S. Route 50, previously part of the old Lincoln Highway, during the course of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The segment which begins at the split with I-205 was constructed during the same period of time over a new right-of-way to a junction with I-5, running through some low hills on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley near the city of Patterson.

In the 1990s, the freeway segment from Castro Valley through Pleasanton was enlarged and otherwise re-engineered in conjunction with the construction of the Dublin/Pleasanton Line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit. The BART tracks were placed in a new median between the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-580 as was the new Dublin/Pleasantion Station. The interchange with I-238 and the Hayward exit ramps was also re-engineered at this time.

[edit] The MacArthur Freeway: Castro Valley to Oakland

The I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed in the 1950s adjacent to the city streets which were part of U.S. Route 50 between Castro Valley and the large interchange along the eastern approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland now called the "MacArthur Maze". The freeway was named in honor of World War II General Douglas MacArthur. Some years prior to the construction of this freeway, the various city streets of Oakland (principally 38th Street, Hopkins Street, and part of Foothill Blvd.) had been named for the General as "MacArthur Boulevard" which, for the most part, still parallels the MacArthur Freeway.

[edit] Oakland to San Rafael

The segment of I-580 running from the MacArthur Maze to San Rafael is the most recent to be signed as I-580, beginning in 1984. Before 1984, this segment was part of State Route 17.

From the Maze to the interchange locally known as the Hoffman Split in Albany, just north of the Gilman Street interchange, I-580 follows the Eastshore Freeway, a wrong-way concurrency with I-80 for its entirety: northward on the Eastshore is signed I-80 East and I-580 West; headed southward, one finds signs indicating I-80 West and I-580 East.

At the Hoffman Split, I-580 leaves the Eastshore Freeway in a northwesterly direction through the cities of El Cerrito and Richmond. It then crosses San Francisco Bay over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The freeway in this section, officially named the John T. Knox Freeway, was constructed from 1987 to 1991. It replaced a number of city streets which comprised the earlier highway leading to the San Rafael Bridge, principally, Hoffman and Cutting Boulevards.

After crossing the bridge, I-580 runs west to San Rafael, ending at an interchange with U.S. Route 101. This freeway segment supplanted an earlier boulevard constructed as part of State Route 17.

[edit] Exit list

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [8][6][9]	#[10]	Destinations	Notes
Marin MRN 4.78-0.00	San Rafael	4.78	1A	US 101 north – San Rafael, Santa Rosa	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		4.50	1B	To US 101 south / Francisco Boulevard – San Francisco	Signed as exit 1 eastbound
		3.09	2A	Sir Francis Drake Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.48	2B	Francisco Boulevard – San Quentin	Signed as exit 2 eastbound
		Richmond-San Rafael Bridge over San Francisco Bay
Contra Costa CC 7.79-0.00	Richmond
		6.01	7A	Western Drive – Point Molate	No eastbound exit
		R5.43	7B	To I-80 east (Richmond Parkway) – Port Richmond, Sacramento	Signed as exit 7 eastbound
		R4.64	8	Canal Boulevard, Garrard Boulevard
		R3.60	9	Cutting Boulevard, Harbour Way	Signed as exits 9A (Cutting Boulevard, Harbour Way south) and 9B (Harbour Way north) westbound
		R2.89	10A	Marina Bay Parkway, South 23rd Street
		R2.09	10B	Regatta Boulevard
		1.21	11	Bayview Avenue
		0.24	12	Central Avenue
Alameda ALA 48.04-0.00	Albany		13	Buchanan Street – Albany	Signed as exit 13A westbound
		47.35 80 R7.30		I-80 east (Eastshore Freeway) – Vallejo, Sacramento	West end of I-80 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Berkeley	80 6.62	12	Gilman Street
		80 5.82	11	University Avenue – Berkeley
		80 4.58	10	SR 13 (Ashby Avenue) / Shellmound Street
	Emeryville	80 3.79	9	Powell Street – Emeryville
	Oakland	80 2.80 46.46	19A	I-80 west – San Francisco	East end of I-80 overlap; no exit number eastbound
		46.46		I-880 south / West Grand Avenue – Alameda, San Jose	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		46.01	19A	MacArthur Boulevard, San Pablo Avenue (SR 123}	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		46.01	19B	San Pablo Avenue (SR 123}, West Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		45.15	19C	SR 24 east – Berkeley, Walnut Creek	Signed as exit 19B eastbound
		45.15	19D	I-980 west to I-880 – Downtown Oakland	Signed as exit 19C eastbound
		44.51	20	Webster Street, Broadway-Auto Row	Eastbound exit only
		44.28	21A	Harrison Street, Oakland Avenue, MacArthur Boulevard
		43.75	21B	Grand Avenue
		43.48	22A	Lake Shore Avenue	Eastbound exit is via exit 21B
		42.67- R42.18	22B	Park Boulevard, 14th Avenue	Signed as exit 22 eastbound
		R41.43	23	Fruitvale Avenue, Coolidge Avenue	Signed as exit 24 westbound
		R40.65	24	35th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R40.08	25A	High Street	Westbound exit is via exit 25
		R39.91	25B	MacArthur Boulevard	Signed as exit 25 westbound
		R39.24	26A	SR 13 (Warren Freeway) – Berkeley	Eastbound exit is via exit 26
		R38.92	26B	Seminary Avenue	Signed as exit 26 eastbound
		R38.31	27A	Edwards Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R37.80	27B	Keller Avenue, Mountain Boulevard	Signed as exit 27 westbound
		R36.34	29A	Golf Links Road, 98th Avenue	Signed as exit 29 westbound
		R35.71	29B	106th Avenue, Foothill Boulevard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R35.11	30	MacArthur Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		R34.48	31A	Dutton Avenue, Estudillo Avenue – Downtown San Leandro	Signed as exit 31 westbound
	San Leandro	R33.94	31B	Grand Avenue – Downtown San Leandro	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R33.43	32A	Benedict Drive	Westbound exit only
		R32.84- R32.72	32B	150th Avenue, Fairmont Drive	Signed as exit 32 eastbound
		R31.71	33	164th Avenue, Miramar Avenue, Carolyn Street
		R30.81	34	I-238 north to I-880
	Castro Valley	R30.81	34	SR 238 – Hayward	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		30.35	35	Strobridge Avenue
		R29.37	36A	Redwood Road – Castro Valley	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R28.75	36B	Center Street, Crow Canyon Road – Castro Valley	Signed as exit 37 westbound
		R26.23	39	Eden Canyon Road, Palomares Road
	Pleasanton	R21.43	44A	San Ramon Road, Foothill Road – Dublin
		20.73	44B	I-680 – Sacramento, San Jose
		19.86	45	Hopyard Road, Dougherty Road
		18.82	46	Hacienda Drive, Dublin Boulevard
		17.95	47	Santa Rita Road, Tassajara Road
	Dublin	16.70	48	El Charro Road, Fallon Road
	Livermore	14.98	50	SR 84 (Airway Boulevard) / Collier Canyon Road
		13.22	52A	Portola Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		12.53	52B	North Livermore Avenue – Downtown Livermore	Signed as exit 52 westbound
		10.69	54	First Street, Springtown Boulevard	Former SR 84
		9.68	55	Vasco Road – Brentwood
		R8.27	57	North Greenville Road, Altamont Pass Road, Laughlin Road
		R5.98	59	North Flynn Road
		R1.48	63	Grant Line Road – Byron
		0.42	65	I-205 – Tracy, Stockton	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
San Joaquin SJ 15.31-0.00		13.54	67	Mountain House Parkway, Patterson Pass Road
	Tracy	8.15	72	Corral Hollow Road
		4.34	76	SR 132 – Modesto	Westbound exit is via exit 76
		4.02	76	Chrisman Road – Tracy	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.00	78	I-5 south – Fresno, Los Angeles	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

[edit] References

v • d • e Auxiliary routes of Interstate 80 California: 180 (former) • 280 • 380 • 480 (former) • 580 • 680 • 780 • 880 • 880 (former) • 980 — Nevada: 580 (unsigned) — Wyoming: 180 — Nebraska: 180 • 280 (former) • 480 • 580 (former) • 680 — Iowa: 280 • 380 • 480 • 680 — Illinois: 180 • 280 — Ohio: 280 • 480 • 680 — Pennsylvania: 180 • 180 (former) • 280 (former) • 380 • 480 (former) • 680 (former) — New Jersey: 280 • 680 (former)