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Chlorine spill causes traffic snarl
traffic on Interstate 680, 580 in Pleasanton backed up for nearly four hours

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If you were traveling to work on either interstates 580 or 680 Wednesday morning, you were probably dealing with the fallout from an early morning accident that left chlorine on the roadway and snarled traffic for miles.

At about 7:40 a.m., a white Ford Ranger pickup truck traveling on 680, just north of the 580 interchange in Dublin, overturned on its side. The truck was carrying pool supplies including buckets of chlorine, which spilled on the asphalt and caused concern of a possible explosion or hazardous situation. A Sig Alert was issued for westbound 580 to northbound 680 just minutes after the accident and the California Highway Patrol was considering it a "long closure." CHP reported that witnesses saw smoke coming from the yellow plastic containers. Hazardous materials crews removed the containers from the roadway.

Lanes of traffic were reopened nearly four hours later, but not before Pleasanton police spent most of the morning diverting drivers from 680 at Hopyard Road to city streets to avoid the backup. Evidence of drivers using arterial streets was present along Main Street in the downtown and other major thoroughfares across town.

The driver suffered minor injuries and is being treated at Valley Care Medical Center in Pleasanton, said CHP Officer Steve Creel.

The 580-680 connector ramp was open by 10:30 a.m. and 680 was reopened by noon.

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Comments

Posted by Stacey, a resident of the Amberwood/Wood Meadows neighborhood, on Oct 3, 2007 at 4:41 pm

I had to run (more like crawl) to a store in Dublin earlier today and saw the traffic. Practically all major city streets were backed up due to this accident: northbound Santa Rita, northbound Hopyard, northbound Foothill, westbound Stoneridge, westbound Owens Dr, etc. It is accidents like these that make me wonder why the Tri-Valley governments don't get their act together and make a Tri-Valley light rail system. Buses are great up to the point when they become stuck in traffic. Rail systems using different road networks don't run into congestion due to freeway problems.


Posted by Jose, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Oct 5, 2007 at 2:17 am

Thankfully the driver was not injured too seriously.

Good work by the Dublin CHP and Caltrans in clearing the road and keeping us safe as they do every day. Thanks guys!


Posted by Jose, a resident of the Another Pleasanton neighborhood neighborhood, on Oct 5, 2007 at 2:18 am

Oh and Pleasanton PD and I'm sure Dublin PD! Can't forget you guys too.


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