Sig-Alert Update: Acid Cleaned-Up, I-880 Open

HAYWARD, CA - Both directions of Interstate Highway 880 have reopened, but not before plunging the East Bay into hour-long gridlock caused by a single truck in Hayward that carried a leaking tank. Traffic backed up for miles in both directions on the interstate and spilled onto surface streets.

At one point, southbound I-880 traffic was at a standstill from Davis Street in San Leandro to the point of the closure, while northbound I-880 was at a standstill from Paseo Padre Parkway in Fremont.

The initial report of a problem came at 12:37 p.m. The CHP log reported a "cloud of some type of hazmat" making it impossible for the fire department to respond to the scene. The source was pinpointed as a flatbed truck carrying 5 tanks, the size of propane tanks outside of homes. Acid was leaking.

By 1 p.m., all southbound traffic was being diverted off the freeway at Winton Avenue. By 2 p.m., the incident commander had ordered all northound lanes closed, with traffic exiting at State Highway 92.

Northbound traffic reopened around 3:45, with southbound traffic following an hour later.

No injuries were reported.

-Image via Alameda County Fire Department