Pages

March 8, 2010

Ygnacio Valley Road closure causes huge traffic mess in Walnut Creek Monday morning

UPDATE: Brace yourself, because three lanes of eastbound traffic on Ygnacio Valley Road will remain closed into the late afternoon, as PG&E works to make repairs on a downed power pole, the Contra Costa Times is reporting.  

Police expect another lane to open by 3 p.m. It will be late in the afternoon before the remaining lane is open.

We’re scrambling to adjust our afternoon. My husband was going to pick up my son at school and then take him to a doctor’s appointment at 3:30 p.m.—out on Ygnacio Valley Road. He might have to leave work early to make it to our school pickup place by three (the 7-Eleven on Oak Road) , and then turn around and use the back way to get to his doctor’s. 

EARLIER: If you were dropping your child off at Walnut Creek Intermediate this morning, as I was, you know what a mess it was.  I was probably stuck in traffic moving around the school along Civic Drive and the main post office for close to 45 minutes. Many kids were rushing to make it to first period by 8:30 a.m., and no doubt quite a few were going to be arriving late.


People who use Ygnacio Valley Road  to commute to and from Walnut Creek were also stuck in traffic.

And what was the cause of this? According to the Contra Costa Times, it was a downed power pole on Ygnacio Valley Road. A minor injury crash around 2 a.m. at Homestead Road knocked the utility pole across three lanes of eastbound Ygnacio Valley Road.

There was no estimate for when the pole would be cleared. 

Police were directing motorists to alternate routes along Treat Boulevard and Bancroft Road, which also were getting clogged up.  There was no estimate offered to the Times on when the pole would be removed, and the roadway re-opened. 

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You jnew this was coming...


Damn Library!

Masterlock said...

The damn library knocked down the power pole too? This thing is like Godzilla, our weapons are useless against it!

hapamama said...

Two of my kids go to school at Indian Valley Elementary, which is off of Homestead. What is normally a 10 minute drive turned into a 1 hour trek this morning. By 3 this afternoon, EB YVR still only had one lane open east of Homestead.

What a mess!

Martha Ross said...

1:47 p.m. and Masterlock...

I think you two might be right. I didn't even think of this angle, but it is SO obvious. It's all part of a secret government project, and it got loose from its top-secret island, made its way across the Pacific, took root in the hearts and minds of local citizens, entwining its nefarious schmes up through their brain stems and into the frontal lobe (am I getting my brain science right?) Anyway, these locals obeyed its mantra "give me a home, give me a home." So, they started to build it a home... And then, it got loose from that home--because it is still under construction--went on a tear through town, and knocked down a power pole.

And the police and PG&E are making up this story about some car accident. Yeah, they must think they could seel us a bridge, or something.

Anonymous said...

This is a wake up call for what will happen in a major earthquake. Look what one downed power pole did. Imagine if there were dozens of power poles down throughout the city with live wires on the ground! It won't be 24 hours to fix the problem then...we'll be looking at days if not weeks.

Anonymous said...

The repair workers had the road open until several drivers ignored the safety cones, etc. and were jerks. I live very close by and could hear the yelling. After the 4th time, they closed the road.

And anon right before me, you are sadly right. I didn't have power and it was a bit of wake up call to me as an individual as to how poorly prepared I was. Bigger picture, yes this should be a wake up call to everyone.

niroa said...

I read so much helpful data above!