CALTRANS District 4 announced Tuesday night that they are preparing for full closure of SR-1 Lantos Tunnels and SR-24 Caldecott due to PG&E proactive power shutoffs.
UPDATE – as of 9:30 pm, Caltrans is working through the night with our partners to provide power to both the Caldecott and Devil’s Slide tunnels. Motorists can expect them to be open during the power shutdown.
CALTRANS said the closures could occur as early as Tuesday night or tomorrow afternoon as they said tunnels cannot operate without power. The closure remains fluid and could change by the hour. CHP is urging commuters to plan alternate routes as a precaution.
The move comes as PG&E plans to shut off power to 800,000 customers in northern California.
Specifically in Contra Costa County, the shutoff could impact 40,219 Contra Costa customers in San Ramon, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Pinole, Richmond, Kensington, Walnut Creek, Pleasant Hill, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Berkeley, Canyon, San Pablo, Pittsburg, Rodeo, Concord, Albany, Antioch, Martinez.
Motorist are advised to listen for latest updates while also treating all unpowered intersections as 4-way stops while being alert for possible pedestrians and cyclists. There is also a red flag warning in effect for the East Bay Hills that go into effect at 6:00 am Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Bay Area Rapid Transit said they expect no disruption to train or station service if power is shut off.
4 comments
You guys are really trying to create some panic. Those tunnels are designed to not have power. They have generator’s for lighting and ventilation, it’s an essential thing. Pge can do what they want, the lights and ventilation will always be on. Building code people!
I would like to know two things (1) are we going to have our bill lowered and are you going to pay for all the food and medication that has to be refrigerated. Not everyone will be able to buy ice and generators.
And (2) are you going to pay the hospital bills for those who may become ill because they can’t use their oxygen machines etc or pay for funeral expenses because they have no heat or air and being without power for many you decide to play Russian Roulette with peoples lives. You need to figure out another way to keep the fire hazards down. Cause either way lives can still be lost. Catch 22.
Deborah, oxygen tanks run on, get this…. oxygen; not on electricity. Next time, just point out that PG&E is a monopoly on of all things- energy.
If the tunnels “cannot operate without power,” then why doesn’t PG&E have permanently installed generators there? Nonscheduled power outages are always a possibility. If they DO have permanent generators, then why any talk about closures at all?
This “we’ve got to close them”/”no, we don’t need to close them” crap just proves that CALTRANS doesn’t know what its doing.
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