I-880 Demolition Noise Rattles East End Residents

Construction noise from the demolition of a portion of the I-880 bridge over High Street in Oakland has kept many on Alameda's East End awake on recent nights.

"Heard the demolition ALL NIGHT LONG at 880 and High Street," wrote one poster on Alameda Patch's Facebook page Wednesday morning. "Actually I could feel it."

"That's what that was!" wrote another. "I thought we had an earthquake."

The Caltrans High Street Retrofit Project is part of the larger I-880 Corridor Improvement Project, an eight-year effort to upgrade 15 miles of I-880 between Oakland and Hayward. 

Caltrans spokesman Matt Robinson said that demolition is being done at night for several reasons — to avoid interrupting daytime traffic on I-880 and adjacent streets, to keep the public and work crews safe, and so crews can work as efficiently as possible.

"For a project like this the best option is for us to do it at night," Robinson said. "We can get it done a lot of faster and with the least amount of impact to the traveling public."

When asked about the "sleeping public" Robinson said he understands that the construction noise has been disruptive.

"We understand that what is occurring is impacting area residents," he said. "If we were to do it during the day it would impact traffic and take longer. We hope the public understands this is the fastest option we have."

Robinson says night work usually starts around 8 p.m. and goes until 4 a.m., Sunday through Thursday. 

Caltrans engineers worked with the City of Oakland on plans for the construction because the freeway is in Oakland, Robinson said. No consultation was done with the City of Alameda, he said.

"Generally speaking, overnight work does get complaints," Robinson said. "People are at home, off the freeway, and, unfortunately, the sound carries more because the ambient sound is less."

The demolition on I-880 was scheduled to run through Jan. 12 (see the attached Caltrans flyer) but Robinson said Friday that he now anticipates it will be done by year's end.

"The contractor now expects to have the work completed before the end of the year," Robinson said. "I will get another update on Monday and let you know what I find out."

On average, more than 200,000 vehicles a day travel past High Street on I-880, Robinson said. 

An informational flyer about the work was distributed to nearby Oakland residents, but not in Alameda. Robinson said he did not anticipate the disruption the demolition would cause on the Island.

"I was surprised that the people in Alameda would be impacted so intensively," he said. "Last time we did work in the area we did not get calls like this. "

(In March, Caltrans  on the north side of the freeway.)

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