Interstate 580 (California)

Interstate 580 (abbreviated I-580) is an interstate highway in Northern California. The heavily traveled, 80-mile (129 km) long spur route of Interstate 80 connects the San Francisco Bay Area to Interstate 5 in the state's Central Valley.

A portion of I-580 is called the MacArthur Freeway, after General Douglas MacArthur. Other portions are named the John T. Knox Freeway (after a former California State Assemblyman and Speaker Pro Tempore), the Eastshore Freeway (after its location on San Francisco Bay), the Arthur H. Breed Jr. Freeway (after a former California State Assemblyman and Senator), and the William Elton "Brownie" Brown Freeway (after a Tracy resident instrumental in determining the route of Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Valley).

Route description

File:Picture 07.06.07 231.jpg

I-580 emerging in the Central Valley near Tracy, CA

I-580 at Palomares Road at the west end of Dublin Canyon

I-580 at the Altamont Pass Wind Farm

I-580 as it passes through Castro Valley.

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs

San Rafael (westbound) Richmond Bridge (eastbound) Point Richmond (westbound) Richmond Sacramento (westbound; via I-80) Albany Berkeley (westbound) Emeryville San Francisco (via I-80) Oakland San Leandro Hayward (eastbound; via I-880 or SR-238) San Jose (eastbound; via I-880) Castro Valley Dublin Pleasanton Livermore Tracy Stockton (eastbound; via I-5) Fresno (eastbound; via I-5) Los Angeles (eastbound; via I-5)

The western terminus of I-580 is north of San Francisco in San Rafael, at a junction with U.S. Route 101. The eastern terminus is with I-5 southeast of Tracy. Leaving San Rafael, I-580 runs next to the San Quentin State Prison before crossing San Francisco Bay over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The road then passes through Richmond and El Cerrito.

In Albany, I-580 joins I-80 and then turns east at the interchange known as the MacArthur Maze. From here, it is known as the MacArthur Freeway which runs through Oakland and San Leandro to Castro Valley. About halfway to Castro Valley from the Maze, is an interchange with the Warren Freeway (State Route 13). Between this interchange and Castro Valley, I-580 runs near or along the trace of the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault.

In Castro Valley, I-580 turns eastward toward Dublin Canyon before descending into Dublin and Pleasanton. After passing through Livermore, the freeway enters the Altamont Pass. The road emerges in the Central Valley near Tracy, where, after Interstate 205 splits near the Altamont Speedway, it turns southeastward and terminates by merging with Interstate 5 near Patterson.

I-580 provides interstate highway access between San Francisco and Los Angeles since Interstate 5 runs east of the Bay Area.

Truck ban through Oakland

Trucks over 4.5 tons are prohibited through Oakland between Grand Avenue and the San Leandro border. Specifically, eastbound trucks cannot travel beyond the Grand Avenue/Lakeshore Avenue exit, and those going westbound must take the MacArthur Boulevard/Foothill Boulevard exit. They are instead instructed to take Interstate 238 and Interstate 880 as an alternative route through Oakland.

The truck prohibition has been in effect since the freeway was built in 1963 as part of U.S. 50. Both the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) imposed the restriction, partly because the City of Oakland already had a truck ban through the area prior to the freeway's construction. Since then, the restriction was grandfathered in when the freeway was both renumbered and added to the Interstate Highway System.

For decades, the trucking industry lobbied to have the ban removed, but was unsuccessful due to local opposition. In 2000, the California State Legislature passed Assembly Bill 500, adding the I-580 truck restriction into the California Vehicle Code. However, the California Highway Patrol has frequently allowed trucks through temporarily when major accidents occur on I-880 or I-238.

Legal definition

Legal definition of Route 580: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 618

History

I-5 to Castro Valley

For the most part, the I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed over or alongside the right-of-way of U.S. Route 50, previously part of the old Lincoln Highway, during the course of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The segment which begins at the split with I-205 was constructed during the same period of time over a new right-of-way to a junction with I-5, running through some low hills on the east side of the San Joaquin Valley near the city of Patterson.

In the 1990s, the freeway segment from Castro Valley through Pleasanton was enlarged and otherwise re-engineered in conjunction with the construction of the Dublin/Pleasanton Line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit. The BART tracks were placed in a new median between the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-580 as was the new Dublin/Pleasantion Station. The interchange with I-238 and the Hayward exit ramps was also re-engineered at this time.

The MacArthur Freeway: Castro Valley to Oakland

The I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed in the 1950s adjacent to the city streets which were part of U.S. Route 50 between Castro Valley and the large interchange along the eastern approach to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland now called the "MacArthur Maze". The freeway was named in honor of World War II General Douglas MacArthur. Some years prior to the construction of this freeway, the various city streets of Oakland (principally 38th Street, Hopkins Street, and part of Foothill Blvd.) had been named for the General as "MacArthur Boulevard" which, for the most part, still parallels the MacArthur Freeway.

Oakland to San Rafael

The segment of I-580 running from the MacArthur Maze to San Rafael is the most recent to be signed as I-580, beginning in 1984. Before 1984, this segment was part of State Route 17.

From the Maze to the interchange locally known as the Hoffman Split in Albany, just north of the Gilman Street interchange, I-580 follows the Eastshore Freeway, which is also signed for I-80 throughout. In this section of the Eastshore, one finds what might be termed directional humor at best, or confusing signs at worst. For instance, heading north on the Eastshore, the highway signs indicate I-80 East and I-580 West. Southbound, one finds signs indicating I-80 West and I-580 East.

At the Hoffman Split, I-580 leaves the Eastshore Freeway in a northwesterly direction through the cities of El Cerrito and Richmond. It then crosses San Francisco Bay over the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The freeway in this section, officially named the John T. Knox Freeway, was constructed from 1987 to 1991. It replaced a number of city streets which comprised the earlier highway leading to the San Rafael Bridge, principally, Hoffman and Cutting Boulevards.

After crossing the bridge, I-580 runs west to San Rafael, ending at an interchange with U.S. Route 101. This freeway segment supplanted an earlier boulevard constructed as part of State Route 17.

Exit list

Note that postmiles increase from east to west, the reverse of the exit numbers. This is because Interstate 580 assimilated much of what was State Route 17 and Interstate 5W, both south-north highways.

County	Location	Postmile		#	Destinations	Notes
		County	State
Westbound traffic defaults onto US 101 north
Marin	San Rafael	MRN 4.78	0.00	1A	US 101 north – San Rafael, Santa Rosa	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		MRN 4.50	0.28	1B	US 101 south – San FranciscoModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Exit 1 eastbound
		MRN 3.29	1.49	2A	Sir Francis Drake Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		MRN 2.63	2.15	2B	Francisco Boulevard – San Quentin	Exit 2 eastbound
		Richmond-San Rafael Bridge over San Francisco Bay. $4.00 toll westbound.
Contra Costa	Richmond
		CC 6.01	6.56	7A	Western Drive – Point Molate	No eastbound exit
		CC 5.11	7.46	7B	To I-80 east (Richmond Parkway) – Port Richmond	Exit 7 eastbound; proposed SR 93
		CC 4.64	7.93	8	Canal Boulevard, Garrard Boulevard
		CC 3.79 CC 3.60	8.78 8.97	9	Harbour Way, Cutting Boulevard	Split into Exit 9A (Harbour Way south) and Exit 9B (Harbour Way north) westbound
		CC 2.89	9.68	10A	Marina Bay Parkway, South 23rd Street
		CC 2.09	10.48	10B	Regatta Boulevard
		CC 1.21	11.36	11	Bayview Avenue
		CC 0.24	12.33	12	Central Avenue
Alameda	Albany			13	Buchanan Street – Albany	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; other ramps are on I-80
		ALA 47.35	13.26		I-80 east – Vallejo, Sacramento	No direct access from eastbound I-580 to eastbound I-80; west end of I-80 overlap
	I-580 joins I-80 and uses its exit numbers.
	Berkeley		13.53	12	Gilman Street	Traffic from westbound I-80/eastbound I-580 must use this exit to access University Avenue west/Berkeley Marina
				11	University Avenue – Berkeley	No access from westbound I-80/eastbound I-580 to University Avenue west/Berkeley Marina, traffic must use Gilman Street.
			15.56	10	SR 13 south (Ashby Avenue)Module:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Shellmound St. is limited to an eastbound I-80/westbound I-580 exit and a westbound I-80/eastbound I-580 entrance
	Emeryville		16.36	9	Powell Street – Emeryville	Westbound I-80/eastbound I-580 exit accessible via Frontage Rd.
		I-580 separates from I-80
			16.54	18	San Francisco carpool exit	Carpools of 3 persons and more and buses only; leads to Bay Bridge toll plaza; eastbound exit only
	Oakland	ALA 46.95	17.66	19A	I-80 west – San Francisco	East end of I-80 overlap
		ALA 46.53	18.08		I-880 south – Alameda, San JoseModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 45.99	18.62	19A	MacArthur Boulevard, San Pablo Avenue (SR 123}	Left eastbound exit and westbound entrance, SR 123 not signed
		ALA 45.99 ALA 45.39	18.62 19.22	19B	San Pablo Avenue (SR 123}, West Street	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, SR 123 not signed
		ALA 45.15	19.46	19C	SR 24 east – Berkeley, Walnut Creek	Exit 19B eastbound
		ALA 45.15	19.46	19D	I-980 west to I-880 – Downtown Oakland	Exit 19C eastbound
		ALA 44.81 ALA 44.51	19.80 20.10	20	Broadway-Auto Row, Webster Street	Eastbound exit only
		ALA 44.33 ALA 44.28	20.28 20.33	21A	Harrison Street, Oakland Avenue, MacArthur Boulevard
		ALA 43.48 ALA 43.23	21.13 21.38	21B	Grand Avenue, Lakeshore Avenue
		ALA 43.23	21.38	22A	Lake Shore Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		ALA 42.67 ALA 42.18	21.94 22.29	22B	Park Boulevard, 14th Avenue	Exit 22 eastbound
		ALA 41.43 ALA 41.14	23.04 23.33	23	Fruitvale Avenue, Coolidge Avenue	Exit 24 westbound
		ALA 40.65	23.82	24	35th Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 40.08	24.39	25A	High Street	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 39.77	24.86	25B	MacArthur Boulevard, High Street	Exit 25 westbound
		ALA 39.24	25.39	26A	SR 13 north (Warren Freeway) – Berkeley	Combined as Exit 26 eastbound; Eastbound exit to SR 13 accessible via Calaveras Avenue and Mountain Blvd; Eastbound exit to Seminary Ave accessible via Calaveras Avenue; Westbound entrance from both SR 13 and Seminary Ave accessible via Mountain Blvd
		ALA 38.92	25.71	26B	Seminary Avenue
		ALA 38.31	26.32	27A	Edwards Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 37.80	26.83	27B	Keller Avenue, Mountain Boulevard	Exit 27 westbound
		ALA 36.34	28.29	29A	Golf Links Road, 98th Avenue	Exit 29 westbound
		ALA 35.71	28.92	29B	106th Avenue, Foothill Boulevard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 35.10	29.53	30	MacArthur Boulevard, Foothill Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		ALA 34.81 ALA 34.48	29.82 30.15	31A	Dutton Avenue, Estudillo Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	San Leandro	ALA 34.48	30.15	31B	Grand Avenue, Estudillo Avenue – Downtown San Leandro	Exit 31 westbound
				32A	Benedict Drive	Westbound exit only
		ALA 32.84 ALA 32.72	31.79 31.91	32B	150th Avenue, Fairmont Drive	Exit 32 eastbound
		ALA 31.71	32.92	33	164th Avenue, Miramar Avenue, Carolyn Street	Eastbound:Miramar Avenue only; Westbound:Carolyn Street only
		ALA 30.92	33.71	34	SR 238 / I-238 to I-880 – Hayward	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Castro Valley	ALA 30.92	33.71	34	I-238 north to I-880	Left westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		ALA 30.36	34.27	35	Strobridge Avenue
		ALA 29.37	35.26	36A	Redwood Road – Castro Valley	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 28.75 ALA 28.41	35.88 36.22	36B	Center Street, Crow Canyon Road – Castro Valley	Exit 37 westbound
		ALA 26.23	38.40	39	Eden Canyon Road, Palomares Road
	Pleasanton	ALA 21.43	43.20	44A	San Ramon Road, Foothill Road – Dublin
		ALA 20.70	43.93	44B	I-680 (Luther Gibson Freeway) – Sacramento, San Jose
		ALA 19.86	44.77	45	Hopyard Road, Dougherty Road
		ALA 18.82	45.81	46	Hacienda Drive, Dublin Boulevard
		ALA 17.96	46.67	47	Santa Rita Road, Tassajara Road
	Dublin	ALA 16.70	47.93	48	El Charro Road, Fallon Road
	Livermore	ALA 14.98 ALA 14.95	49.65 49.68	50	SR 84 (Airway Boulevard)Module:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated
		ALA 13.22	51.41	52A	Portola Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		ALA 12.53	52.10	52B	North Livermore Avenue – Downtown Livermore	Exit 52 westbound
		ALA 10.69	53.94	54	First Street, Springtown Boulevard	former SR 84
		ALA 9.68	54.95	55	Vasco Road – Brentwood
		ALA 8.29	56.34	57	North Greenville Road, Altamont Pass Road, Laughlin Road	Eastbound exit signed as Altamont Pass Road; Westbound exit signed as Laughlin Road
		ALA 5.93	58.70	59	North Flynn Road
		ALA 1.48	63.15	63	Grant Line Road – Byron
		ALA 0.42	64.21	65	I-205 east – Tracy, Stockton	Eastbound left exit and westbound left entrance
San Joaquin		SJ 13.54	66.43	67	Mountain House Parkway, Patterson Pass Road
	Tracy	SJ 8.15	71.82	72	Corral Hollow Road
		SJ 4.35	75.62	76A	SR 132 – Modesto	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		SJ 4.02	75.95	76B	SR 132 – TracyModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		SJ 0.00	79.97	78	I-5 south – Fresno, Los Angeles	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Eastbound traffic defaults onto I-5 south