bumper to bumper to bumper to

[cyrano]

My commuting friends, I come to glean the wealth of your experience!
Tomorrow, after work, I must make my way from Evelyn and Bernardo in Mountain View up to University and Shattuck in Berkeley.
Where should I avoid? Where should I try to get to?
Would I be best served to simply get to BART in Fremont? (Augh. Then I have to think about how and when to get back.)

Comments

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

I'm a bit out of the present, but IME, if you're going to go to the trouble to getting to the Fremont BART station, you may just as well keep on driving all the way to Berkeley since you're already halfway there and the 237/880 bits getting into Fremont are the slowest anyway.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

What if I took 237 to 101 and then 101 up to 84 or 92 to 880?

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

IME, the bridges aren't really any faster (it's the getting to them that's a bitch, plus everyone and their dog lives in the East Bay and works on the peninsula).

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking that if I went that way, I'd avoid the 237/880 interchange.

[lil-m-moses.livejournal.com]

You would, but the Dumbarton and San Mateo bridge approaches are just as bad, and the Dumbarton is a big chunk of what creates the Fremont nonsense. The 237/880 interchange was much improved even a couple of years ago as they were progressing on the ramp construction. Unless they've torn something else up there in the meantime, I still think it's the best of 3 evils for that time of day.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Cool. Thank you.

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

I do that commute whenever I stay over at damien_ct's place on a weeknight, but I do it in the morning, so it's different. The 511.org "typical trip" planning stuff is pretty useful overall, although I find that their estimates are often short by 15 minutes, give or take. Fremont BART is definitely an option, especially knowing how much driving can stress you out. Train from there is about an hour, parking is cheap and probably paid for inside the station (as it is at the others--I haven't used Fremont since that policy went in, though, so I'm not 100% sure) and the last train leaves Berkeley right around midnight. Downtown Berkeley BART is about two blocks from University and Shattuck.

Driving, I typically avoid 880 for as long as possible in the morning, since that's where I find the worst traffic, which means taking 101 to the San Mateo Bridge, but again, that's the reverse commute of yours. I find that the worst traffic is in Oakland itself, particularly near the Coliseum. (Check for sporting events tomorrow night, and if there are any, I can give you an alternate route.) And it depends on what time you're leaving how bad traffic will be, but I'd assume about 90 minutes of driving time.

Definitely don't do the Bay Bridge, no matter what online directions might tell you. With the maze collapse, it'll be worse than usual. If you want directions better than the internets will provide, ask me. My old office was about two blocks from University and Shattuck.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Actually, Yahoo maps appears to be updated on the collapse. They're telling me to take 24 into Berkeley. Yeah, right now I'm thinking 237-->880-->980-->24-->MLK exit or something.
And if I were leaving from the point of arrival, BART would be easier. But I'm leaving from somewhere down closer to Alameda in Oakland.
(Looks like *no* sporting events on the calendar between last Sunday and next Monday.)

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

That's not the collapse, actually, that's the normal route through the maze. The collapse is coming from the other direction. :) And that'll work.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Really? Last week when I was trying to get up to Berkeley for a movie, they kept trying to send me up to 580, which was why I got lost and ended up on the wrong side of the tunnel because there is no Shattuck exit on 24. I'd thought maybe hwy 13 turned into Shattuck, but that was wrong too. Luckily, the townies were helpful and friendly.

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

The collapse is only relevant if coming from SF or from the north. And yes, the maze is confusing. There's no Shattuck exit anywhere, by the way, that I know of.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

I eventually figured that out. (:
I don't remember where I got off, or how I finally found University, but it was an experience I do not plan to duplicate tonight.

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

There is, however, a University exit from 580. :)

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

So maybe I should just take 880 to 580 to University?

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

Well, it's an option. Although the 880-980-24-580 route that you probably got online is shorter than plain old 880-580, believe it or not. The MLK exit frmo 24 dumps you out a couple miles south of University and Shattuck, the University exit from 580 dumps you out a couple miles west of University and Shattuck. Six of one.

[cyranocyrano.livejournal.com]

Cool. Thank you for your advice.

[jakejr.livejournal.com]

No problem.