Where can I find a map showing all access points on an interstate highway?

April 30, 2007 1:12 PM

Help this East Bay resident and driver of 580 get home! Where can I find a map that shows all the exits on 880 for my alternate route?

So yeah, my commute home from San Francisco to Oakland is gonna suck for quite some time. I usually take the Bay Bridge to 580 east and that's no longer an option. I can take 880 from the bridge and using a somewhat non-optimal route, get home to where I live in Oakland near Lake Merritt. I know there's an exit off of 880 around Broadway or something but I can't remember where. I'm sure I'll figure it out once I get there but what I'd really like is a list/map that shows all the exits and entrances on the regional freeway system. I think there's something like that in my Thomas Guide but is there anything online? All I can find are traffic sites that give real time info on freeways. I don't care about the traffic updates (and it's clear that it sucks already so why bother?). I just want to see a map off all the access points. Google maps doesn't really help since yes, you can see the freeway and you can somewhat see ramps but I want to know what they're called and where exactly they go.

posted by otherwordlyglow to travel & transportation (12 comments total)

You'll want to take Bart moving forwards :) Here is a list of detours
posted by zeoslap at 1:20 PM on April 30, 2007

Here is a list that isn't getting hit quite so hard (sfgate real slow today)
posted by zeoslap at 1:23 PM on April 30, 2007

I don't need a list of detours. I know what my detour is, broadly speaking: I need to take 880 rather than 580. And unless the Chron is publishing an alternate route to my house, that's not what I need.

And no, BART isn't a great option for me. I don't live or work near BART so my trip by transit is tri-modal (AC Transit to BART to Muni). I know how to do that and do it frequently though it takes twice as long (well okay twice as long when the freeway is intact) as driving. I don't need to be encouraged to take transit. What I need is a list of all access points along 880. This is actually something that I've wanted for a while and could never find. Caltrans doesn't seem to have it, neither does 511.org. It seems like such a simple thing to me: where are the exit and entrance ramps on the freeways?
posted by otherwordlyglow at 1:59 PM on April 30, 2007

It's not a map, but this is a list of all the exits on 880, from south to north.
posted by mdonley at 2:08 PM on April 30, 2007

Furthermore, if you posted your origin and destination, maybe someone could cobble together a commute that might save you some time.
posted by mdonley at 2:10 PM on April 30, 2007

mdonley - that's pretty much what I'm after. I can figure it from there but I'm a little baffled as to why this sort of info isn't "officially" available. Also, the wiki entry is a little awkward because it lists the entrances as northbound and southbound, which they kinda sorta are though the highway officially goes east/west. That's been another issue I have with the freeway system in the Bay Area. Conceptually (and even in practice some of the time) 580, 880, 280, and 680 all go north/south in my mind but they're numbered and labeled as even and, i guess in the larger sense go east/west.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:21 PM on April 30, 2007

Where on Lake Merritt? I always take the West Grand eixt right off the bridge if I happen to not be taking BART home from the City. But my "near Lake Merritt" may not be the same as your "near Lake Merritt". The only option if you stay on 880 is Broadway or Embarcadero, however the latter is past LM area by quite a bit. There is no SB offramp to Oak/Jackson.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:24 PM on April 30, 2007

I live near the Parkway. West Grand is an option, but they seem to be recommending that everyone who normally goes Bay Bridge to 580 to 24 get off at Grand to cross over to 980 to reach 24. I don't really want to get involved in that mess. I'm just collecting options, really. So the Broadway thing is okay with me, Ive done it before and I just go through downtown to cross the south end of the lake on 12th Street.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 2:33 PM on April 30, 2007

Have you thought about going to a bookstore and getting a Thomas Gude map of Alameda County?

It'll show you all the on/off ramps on Hwy 880.
posted by drstein at 3:33 PM on April 30, 2007

drstein, as I said in my question, I also believe it's in my Thomas Guide, I was looking for an online version of the same info.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 4:01 PM on April 30, 2007

My GF lives near the Parkway. From SF, I get off 880 southbound at Embarcadero or 16th, backtrack to 5th Ave and take it up to E 19th St. A left turn there puts you at the Parkway in about a block. Or take the Broadway exit to 7th St and take that to 5th Ave. More stoplights that way though.
posted by beetsuits at 4:54 PM on April 30, 2007

The google satellite map is AWESOME. And it even shows the downed portion of the 580. Furthermore, it has little arrows showing directions of traffic. I finally understand the Maze better than I ever did before. And yes, you can even see your house on there.
posted by iamkimiam at 8:12 PM on April 30, 2007