Talk:MacArthur Maze

Page name is incorrect. Name should be 'The Maze'; (see Bay Bridge Distribution Structure for disambiguation)

The page is incorrectly titled, "Macarthur Maze," based on recent erroneous sources. The Macarthur Maze is the 1960's to 1970's era interchange that is approximately 1 mile to the East, at the intersection of the Macarthur Freeway (I580), Byron Rumford Freeway (CA SR24) and the I 980. The newer interchange was so-named to differentiate it from,'The Maze' which is the 1930's structure referred to in the article. Nevertheless, some on Wikipedia refuse to accept that there are officially accepted names for these interchanges and insist on using incorrect references!

It should be noted, that the 3 dubious sources cited as 1,2, and 3, only date back to 2007.

The naming conventions for Wikipedia are that the commonly used name should be accepted. Prior to the 1990's,it was very rare for someone to make the mistake of referring to the Maze as the Macarthur Maze. Those of us who have lived here for any period of time KNOW the difference between these two interchanges and NEVER, incorrectly refer to, 'The Maze' (Distribution Structure) as the 'Macarthur Maze.' Having lived in the Oakland area for over 40 years, I consider myself a 'Primary Reliable Source.' If you ask 100 random Oakland residents, over the age of 35, the name of these interchanges, a consensus will show that I am correct. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 946towguy (talk • contribs) 18:07, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Sorry, the naming convention should be the commonly used name that is used by reliable published sources now in 2014, not prior to the 1990s. The current citations are from the Contra Costa Times web site, SFGate.com (the San Francisco Chronicle's web site), and the web site of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. I do not understand why you think these sources are "dubious" (do you really think that any published work by the Contra Costa Times and the San Francisco Chronicle created after the 1990's is dubious?). Because you have no independent sources yourself, and can only say that you are a primary source, all your claims fall in the area of original research. All material on Wikipedia must be verifiable. Because anyone can edit, readers must be able to check that Wikipedia articles are not just made up. This means that all quotations and any material challenged or likely to be challenged must be attributed to a reliable, published source using an inline citation. For example, how do I really know that a phrase like "Emeryville Maze" is not made up? As you notice in that Google search link, there seems to be no exact match for that phrase. Others like me need solid evidence, not what sounds like hearsay. Zzyzx11 (talk) 03:30, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

As a long, long time resident of the East Bay, I can confirm that 'MacArthur Maze' originally referred to the 24/580/980 interchange (and the messy construction thereof in the 70s). No surprise as this portion of 580 is officially named the MacArthur Freeway. It was difficult and onerous to navigate while the interchange was being built. The term "MacArthur Maze" was picked up by the traffic reporters on the radio, or at least the reporters I listened to (i.e., "Traffic to the bridge is backed up to the MacArthur Maze"). At the time, the 24/580/980 interchange was more complex than the nearby distribution structure adjacent to the Bay Bridge. Unlike the distribution structure where there was and remains no connection between N880 to E580, or W580 to S880, the 24/580/980 provides a choice to travel on any of the other connecting freeways.

I still remember being surprised to read in one of the local rags (newspapers), circa early 1980s, about the maze and traffic reporters. The gist of the story was that some radio traffic reporters referred to the maze as the distribution structure adjacent to the Bay Bridge while others referred to the Maze as the 24/580/980 interchange. (Somebody, with time to waste, should find that story)

Since the completion of the 24/580/980 interchange, the Bay Bridge distribution center has become more complex and maze-like and I am not surprised that the name has "MacArthur Maze" has become attached to the distribution center by non-locals. However, if you ever travel from 24 to 80 or vice versa, the 24/580/980 and distribution center interchanges appear to be, and for practical purposes, are contiguous. The distance between the interchanges is roughly the same as the size of each interchange. The driving path diverges, merges, diverges, then merges again. The maze should be best viewed the way a driver would, from as when you leave your initial freeway until you reach your destination freeway.Swlenz (talk) 21:11, 31 March 2017 (UTC)