Three Bay Bridge Toll Booths Damaged In Horrific Crash Have Reopened
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- A toll booth heavily damaged in a horrific fatal weekend crash remained closed Monday, but three others were repaired overnight adverting a nightmare morning commute for workers headed to their jobs in San Francisco.
Caltrans officials issued a warning to commuters Sunday night telling them to use BART or other options for travel into San Francisco. But three of the four toll booths damaged in the deadly crash had been reopened by 5 a.m.
"We are doing the best we can, but we can't give any kind of firm estimate as to when they (the other booths) will re-open," Caltrans spokesman Bob Haus said on Sunday night. "If those booths are closed, it's going to have an adverse effect on traffic."
BART officials said they were already at capacity and cannot add extra trains to ease the pressures on the morning rush hour.
"We are already at capacity in terms of the number of trains through the trans bay tube at peak rush hour," said BART spokesman Jim Allison. "It's why we need to modernize our train control system."
Toll Booth 14 was completely destroyed in the crash and must be rebuilt from the ground up. Meanwhile, Caltrans crews worked overnight to repair the other booths damaged in the crash.
Around 5 a.m. Saturday, a box truck crashed into a line ofvehicles at the toll plaza on the Oakland side of the Bay Bridge, then slammed into a toll booth, California Highway Patrol officials said.
The crash killed toll booth worker, Si Si Han, a 46-year-old wife and mother. She was working in Toll Booth 14 at the time of the crash.
Daniel Berk, 32, of Foster City, the alleged driver of the truck,was thrown from the vehicle and seriously injured, according to the CHP. He remained hospitalized early Monday but had been arrested on suspicion of DUI and manslaughter.
A passenger in the box truck was ejected, suffering injuries, andwas taken to Highland Hospital, as was the driver. Other motorists involved in the crash suffered mild to moderate injuries and also were taken to Highland Hospital.
The crash wreaked havoc on traffic Saturday. The northboundInterstate Highway 880 to westbound Interstate Highway 80 connector wasclosed for hours, as well as the bus lanes, the HOV lane from westbound Highway 80 and the HOV lane from northbound Highway 880.