Loma Prieta 25 Years Later: Region Braces for the Big One
On the eve of the 25th anniversary of the devastating Loma Prieta quake, the traveling public can rest assured that the Bay Area’s transportation system is far better prepared to withstand the next one. The 6.9 magnitude earthquake that rocked the region on October 17, 1989, revealed weak points in the Bay Area’s transportation network and set in motion major renovations and retrofits to the region’s transit and highway structures.
Loma Prieta’s damage was severe and wide-reaching, and transportation infrastructure took a particularly massive hit. Double deck highway structures — the Cypress Viaduct in Oakland, San Francisco’s Embarcadero Freeway and the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge East Span — were knocked out of service. The upper deck of the Cypress collapsed onto the lower deck, claiming 42 lives. A fracture in the upper deck of the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge took one motorist’s life and shut down the bridge for a month. Commuters were stranded and stuck the night of the quake, and travel disruptions continued for weeks and months while the region recovered. A bright spot was BART, which withstood the quake well and was back in service within hours. Ferries also proved to be a lifeline for transbay commuters.
In the following years, damaged and at-risk double-deck and elevated structures were retrofitted and rebuilt, or replaced with surface roadways, providing travelers with peace of mind and city dwellers with a new and improved urban landscape.
“Loma Prieta taught us some painful lessons about the vulnerability of our transportation system,” said Deputy Executive Director Andrew Fremier. “We have taken these lessons to heart, and a generation later we have stronger toll bridges, a stronger highway system and a stronger transit network that includes more redundancy than was available in 1989.”
MTC and its partners on the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission) undertook a huge, $8.7 billion seismic safety program to retrofit the region’s seven state-owned toll bridges.Work concluded on the replacement West Approach to the Bay Bridge in 2009, and the new Bay Bridge East Span, the centerpiece of the program, opened in 2013 — its side-by-side decks a safer and striking addition to the skyline. The 1920s span of the Carquinez Bridge has been replaced with a contemporary suspension bridge, and its twin 1950s span has been hardened. The West Span of the Bay Bridge, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, the Dumbarton Bridge, the Antioch Bridge and the original Benicia-Martinez Bridge have all been brought up to current seismic standards as well. MTC’s Bay Area Toll Authority has financed all of this bridge seismic work with toll money. Caltrans has also systematically brought all highway bridges in the state up to code.
The elevated Cypress and Embarcadero Freeways along with a portion of San Francisco’s Central Freeway were replaced with surface roadways. The removal of overhead freeway structures opened up vistas and breathed new life into the San Francisco waterfront and the city’s Hayes Valley. The Mandela Parkway that replaced the Cypress Structure has transformed this corner of Oakland.
The Presidio Parkway, under construction and set to open in 2016, is converting the dangerous Doyle Drive into a seismically safe approach to the Golden Gate Bridge. BART’s Earthquake Safety Program, which is renovating the system’s stations and elevated structures, is underway. The post-earthquake era has also seen the birth of the San Francisco Water Emergency Transportation Authority, which is expanding ferry service on the Bay and is tasked with coordinating ferry service during crises.
The recent 6.0 quake in Napa this past summer put our upgraded system to the test. And the system passed: New and retrofitted structures stood their ground and came through damage-free.
While the system is a whole lot stronger today, the anniversary of Loma Prieta is a good reminder to get reacquainted with earthquake safety practices. MTC has spearheaded the development of transportation emergency preparedness procedures for the region and conducts annual earthquake simulations to test the plans. Find preparedness resources in the adjacent column, along with opportunities to remember the past as we continue to work toward a less shakable future for the Bay Area.
EARTHQUAKE SAFETY RESOURCES
- MTC Emergency Preparedness
- The Great California Shakeout Drill
- ABAG Resilience Program
- California Ready
- California Seismic Safety Commission
ANNVERSARY EVENTS
- The Great California Shakeout Drill
- LP25 public policy symposium (October 16)
- LP25 Interactive (October 17 event at the Exploratorium)
- Reflect. Honor. Prepare (October 17 Oakland Loma Prieta anniversary and earthquake preparedness event)
- Earthquake Month at the Tech Museum of Innovation
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