The California Highway Patrol is asking motorists to avoid Highway 24 in the Lafayette area this afternoon while repairs are made to power lines damaged earlier in a crane accident.
Starting at noon, there will be intermittent closures on Highway 24 to repair overhead lines knocked down about 5:30 a.m. by a crane working on BART tracks in Lafayette.
The downed lines forced the closure of westbound 24 for about an hour early Monday morning.
The afternoon closures will occur for 30 minutes at a time on both directions of the freeway between Oak Hill and Pleasant Hill roads on eastbound 24 and between Pleasant Hill and Acalanes roads on westbound 24.
Detour signs and routes will be posted for motorists to follow, for exiting the freeway and returning to it, the CHP said.
The 30-minute temporary closures will be repeated, followed by the freeway opening for an hour, before starting the process over until the emergency work is completed.
Motorists are asked to avoid the freeway if possible and find alternate routes, such as Interstate Highway 80 to State Route 4 or Interstate Highway 680 to Interstate Highway.
The crane accident knocked out power to the area, with 725 customers initially affected. As of 9:45 a.m., 114 customers were still without power in Lafayette. Restoration of power is expected by 6 p.m., according to PG&E.
During the Labor Day holiday weekend, BART’s Measure RR-funded track work is underway and buses instead of BART trains are providing service between Walnut Creek and Orinda.
BART trains are expected to resume normal service and schedules on Tuesday morning, officials said.
You tax dollars at work
opps…. could happen to any crane operator…..
Wonder if the crane operator was texting while operating?
I might also suggest that inspectors double check that new track is bolted down properly. This is not considered an accident. This is clearly negligent behavior.
CalTrans should also follow up with an inspection of the roadway. The crane may have caused the freeway to sink more where it has been used.
LOL- you take yourself pretty seriously don’t you?🤪
The crew moving a truck full of my furniture from Oakland to Claycord today will be so thrilled to hear this news. Thanks Claycord for alerting me to the situation before we all got stuck in it! I’ll go tell them now.😩 Wah
Wasn’t this completely predictable?
BART, a big crane, power lines, a major thoroughfare, and a holiday weekend. What could possibly go wrong?
Are power lines are the new fire hydrants. Jumping out in front of cranes.
LOL- you take yourself pretty seriously don’t you?🤪
If I’m not mistaken, OSHA requires signage at ground level stating Power Lines Overhead? If the bart stoppage and lane closures already in place didn’t stink, i can only imagine the grief (and idiot drivers) that’ll come from this.
Woof.
It happened before 6:00am. Overhead power lines are pretty much invisible in the dark, that’s one of their reasons they usually mark them with signs.
Typical moe, larry and curly BART team. what would be surprising is if the project continues without further incidents, vandalism, wrongful deaths and delays.
Another example of WELL planned work . . . . . . .
Is fortunate they didn’t end up killing anybody.
Any project done by BART or any other government agency is contracted to the Lowest Bidder! Remember that when you ride on BART or drive across the Bay Bridge.