Traffic backed up for nine miles along an East Bay highway. On an interstate, it came to a complete stop and then looked a bit like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.
By noon, motorists still were trying to navigate some of it, and the California Highway Patrol still was directing traffic.
All in all, the overturning of a big rig filled with sod on eastbound state Highway 24 and of a tractor trailer on northbound Interstate 238 turned the Wednesday morning commute into one of the year’s worst.
A third wreck — a two-car collision that didn’t cause any injuries — on northbound I-680 near the Livorna Road exit in Alamo about 9:30 a.m. also added to the slow-go.
The first major wreck happened on northbound I-238 about 2:20 a.m. and created a maze that slowed traffic past noon. About two hours into the clean-up, the CHP diverted traffic from northbound I-238 onto southbound I-880 while closing northbound I-880. About six hours after that, at 11:20 a.m., the agency said it had closed the I-238 transition to southbound I-880 and opened northbound I-880.
CHP officers were on scene as motorists moved through the area.
The other wreck on Highway 24 left sod, grass, dirt and other gardening and outdoor materials strewn over the highway, the CHP said. That crash happened about a half-mile west of the Caldecott Tunnel about 4:55 a.m.
About 10 minutes later, the CHP closed all lanes of Highway 24 and diverted traffic onto Highway 13 toward Berkeley. From there, motorists were directed back onto westbound freeways near the MacArthur Maze and toward southbound Highway 13.
Motorists had the option of taking Highway 13 all the way to I-80, and traffic on and near that interstate backed up, authorities said.
Traffic on Highway 24 backed up past Acalanes Road in Lafayette, an exit about nine miles from the tunnel.
The CHP opened all lanes on the highway about 9:45 a.m.
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