Fiery Hell

So, there was a major freeway accident in my neighborhood last week. Some nimrod truck driver rolled his fuel tanker truck in the MacArthur Maze - recognized as one of the busiest traffic interchanges in the U.S. Fortnuately, this happened on a deserted roadway at 4:30 AM on a Sunday, but said tanker truck caught fire and burned - yes, burned, and melted - a 250 yard section of the EB 580 freeway overpass, which then collapsed onto the SB 880, which is the major freeway I need to take everyday as part of my hellish, Earth-raping commute. (Hey, I admit my villainess. But a job is a job). The whole debacle was the feature of news for days. Gov't response was immediate - CalTrain cleared the scene within a few days; Gov. Schwarzenegger held a press conference on the site, with Oakland and SF mayors standing beside;
At any rate - what is the aftermath, who is to blame, who makes restitution, and what does it mean for me?
This week's commute was screwy to begin with - Monday I was out sick, couldn't carpool on Tuesday so I drove myself. I left home at 6:30 AM, and the roads were OK. Still feeling sick, I left early and got home OK. Wednesday I took an alternate route, which was OK, but again I left at 6:30 AM. Thursday was a special case - I needed to go into SF in the evening, so I took public transport in the morning. Through a series of clusterf_cks, it took me more than 2.5 hours to get to work (compared to driving, which takes about 45 mins). More research to follow, but I'm not keen on that slog again. Friday is a half-day, (see following post about the screening), so I can't judge again. The good news is that officials estimate 880 can re-open in about 2 weeks.
Newsmedia has been reporting dirt on the truck driver, (survivor James Mosqueda). No amount of humiliation, disgrace, punishment, is enough for this guy and his employers. Police determined he was going too fast, so 1 jackass caused $150 million in damage. He's had several convicitions in the past, the business has had several complaints and that particular truck failed Gov't inspections, yet they're still able to turn a buck at the expense of the public.
(On a side note, this pokes holes in the WTC conspiracy nuts who argued, "Steel can't be melted by a fuel fire!" Unless, of course, the same shady agents who took down the WTC also wrecked the Oakland freeway. Hmmm... there might be something to that.)
Replacing the 580 will take months, due to needing to replace the custom steel supports. This means that traffic coming off the Bay Bridge will be routed through the Powell street exit, and our own neighborhood. I saw it the other day - around 6PM, the backup was more than a mile, getting off that freeway. As much as I love Emeryville, and support their city plan for combining growing residential with local business & larger corporate retail (except Wal-Mart, fuck them), their idea for getting freeway traffic coming into the Bay Street Shopping Center is ridiculously stupid. One single exit, one single right turn, to get thousands of commuters and shoppers through town? And at an absurdly long light? Rethink that one, E-ville city planners. (to defend myself - Bonnie and I have been involved with the city general planning commitee and steering committee meetings for months.)