Interstate 580 (I-580) is an approximately east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. The heavily traveled

spur route A spur route is a short road forming a branch from a longer, more important road such as a freeway, Interstate Highway, or motorway. A bypass or beltway should not be considered a true spur route as it typically reconnects with another or the ...

of I-80 runs from US Route 101 (US 101) in San Rafael in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

to I-5 at a point outside the southern city limits of Tracy in the Central Valley. I-580 forms a concurrency with I-80 between Albany and

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

, the latter of which is the location of the MacArthur Maze interchange immediately east of the

San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries about 260,000 ...

. I-580 provides a connection from the Bay Area to the southern

San Joaquin Valley The San Joaquin Valley ( ; es, Valle de San Joaquín) is the area of the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California that lies south of the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and is drained by the San Joaquin River. It comprises seven ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

via I-5, as I-5 bypasses the Bay Area to the east. A portion of I-580 is called the MacArthur Freeway, after General

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was ...

. Other portions are named the John T. Knox Freeway (after a former speaker pro tempore of the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The ...

), the Eastshore Freeway (after its location on

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...

), the Arthur H. Breed Jr. Freeway (after a former California State assemblyperson and senator—the stretch itself lying between the cities of

Castro Valley Castro Valley is a census-designated place (CDP) in Alameda County, California, United States. At the 2010 census, it was the fifth most populous unincorporated area in California and the twenty-third most populous in the United States. The popul ...

and

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

), the William Elton "Brownie" Brown Freeway (after a Tracy resident instrumental in determining the route of I-5 through the

), the Sgt. Daniel Sakai Memorial Highway (after the Castro Valley resident and Oakland

SWAT In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

officer killed in the 2009 shootings of Oakland police officers), and the John P. Miller Memorial Highway (after the Lodi resident and California Highway Patrol officer killed while chasing down a

DUI Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...

driver).

Route description

Kluft-Photo-Aerial-I580-Altamont-Pass-Img 0037

I-580 W (CA) between Pleasanton and Castro Valley

The western terminus of I-580 is roughly north of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

in the city of San Rafael ( Marin County), at the junction with US 101. The interchange with US 101 is incomplete, only allowing continuous travel from southbound US 101 to eastbound I-580 (via exit 451B) and from westbound I-580 to northbound US 101. Heading eastward through the light industrial portion of eastern San Rafael, I-580 provides access to San Quentin State Prison at the eastern tip of land before joining the

Richmond–San Rafael Bridge The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (also officially named the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of the San Francisco Bay in California, USA. Officially named after California State Senator John F ...

to cross

. I-580 enters the city of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

midspan, then continues through Richmond to join I-80 in Albany at the "Hoffman Split". After joining I-80, I-580 runs directly south for several miles along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in the segment known as the Eastshore Freeway, then enters the MacArthur Maze. The segment between the Hoffman Split and the MacArthur Maze is a

wrong-way concurrency A concurrency in a road network is an instance of one physical roadway bearing two or more different route numbers. When two roadways share the same right-of-way, it is sometimes called a common section or commons. Other terminology for a concur ...

, meaning I-580 east is signed as I-80 west, and vice versa. From the MacArthur Maze, I-580 is known as the MacArthur Freeway, which runs through

and San Leandro to

. About halfway to Castro Valley from the Maze, is an interchange with the

Warren Freeway A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

( State Route 13 R 13. Between this interchange and Castro Valley, I-580 runs near or along the trace of the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the

San Andreas Fault The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizontal) ...

. In Castro Valley, I-580 turns eastward toward Dublin Canyon before descending into

and Pleasanton. After passing through Livermore, the freeway enters the

Altamont Pass Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but near ...

. The road emerges in the Central Valley west of Tracy, where, after

I-205 Interstate 205 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5 * Interstate 205 (California), a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area * Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washin ...

splits near

Altamont Raceway Park Altamont Raceway Park was a motorsports race track in the western United States, located northern California, west of Tracy. It opened on July 22, 1966, and operated under the names Altamont Speedway, Altamont Raceway, Altamont Motorsports Pa ...

, it turns southeastward and terminates by merging with I-5 south of Tracy just shy of the

Stanislaus County , image_skyline = , image_caption = Images, from top down, left to right: Modesto Arch, Knights Ferry's General Store, a view of the Tuolumne River from Waterford , image_flag = , ...

line. I-580 through Altamont Pass is a major crossing of the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley ...

, linking the Central Valley to the Bay Area, and also a major route to Southern California. I-580 is the only freeway that crosses the Diablo Range, making it the safest route through the mountains. Prior to the construction of this route, traffic was detoured to Pacheco ( SR 152) and Polonio ( SR 46) passes. I-580 provides Interstate Highway access between San Francisco and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

since I-5 runs east of the Bay Area. However, the primary

control city A control city is a city, locality, or other location posted on a series of traffic signs along a particular stretch of road indicating destinations on that route. Together with route numbers and cardinal directions, these focal points aid the mo ...

listed on freeway signs along eastbound I-580 between I-80 and I-205 is instead Stockton, a vestige of when this segment used to be part of US 50. I-580 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both State highways and federal highways in California. It is defined by Article 2 (comme ...

and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

(FHWA). The route is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System and is officially designated as a scenic highway by the

California Department of Transportation The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacram ...

(Caltrans) from the San Leandro city limits to SR 24 and from I-5 to I-205, meaning that these are substantial sections of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.

Truck ban through Oakland

Trucks over are prohibited through Oakland between Grand Avenue and the San Leandro border. Specifically, eastbound trucks cannot travel beyond Grand Avenue/Lakeshore Avenue (exit 21B), and those going westbound must get off at MacArthur Boulevard/Foothill Boulevard (exit 30). They are instead instructed to take I-238 in Castro Valley and then I-880 through Oakland as an alternative route. The truck prohibition has been in effect before the freeway was since the freeway was built in 1963 as part of US 50. Both the

FHWA The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

and

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacrame ...

imposed the restriction, partly because the city of Oakland already had a truck ban through the area prior to the freeway's construction. Since then, the restriction was grandfathered in when the freeway was both renumbered and added to the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. T ...

. As a result, it is the only segment of Interstate Highway in California that is not part of the National Truck Network (several other California state highways have similar truck bans such as SR 2 and SR 85, but not any other Interstates). With trucks normally rerouted onto I-880 instead of I-580 through Oakland, the former generally gets more traffic than the latter. For decades, the trucking industry lobbied to have the ban removed but was unsuccessful due to local opposition. In 2000, the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...

passed Assembly Bill 500, adding the I-580 truck restriction into the California Vehicle Code. The ban is temporarily lifted by the California Highway Patrol for short periods to reduce traffic congestion when major accidents occur on I-880 or I-238.

Tolls

Richmond–San Rafael Bridge

Tolls are collected only for westbound traffic on the

. An open road tolling system is used on the bridge, and they can be paid by either a FasTrak transponder or license plate tolling. The high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane leading to the bridge requires a car with three or more people.

Express lanes

High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes along I-580 between Pleasanton and Livermore opened in February 2016. The eastbound express lanes stretch between Hacienda Drive and North Greenville Road. The westbound express lanes extend an additional west to San Ramon Road/Foothill Road. , the HOT lanes' hours of operation is weekdays between 5:00 am and 8:00 pm. Solo drivers are tolled using a congestion pricing system based on the real-time levels of traffic. Carpools, motorcycles, and clean air vehicles are not charged. All tolls are collected using an open road tolling system, and therefore there are no toll booths to receive cash. Each vehicle using the HOT lanes is required to carry either a FasTrak ''Flex'' or ''CAV'' (Clean Air Vehicle) transponder, with its switch set to indicate the number of the vehicle's occupants (1, 2, or 3 or more). Solo drivers may also use the FasTrak standard tag without the switch. Drivers without any FasTrak tag will be assessed a toll violation regardless of whether they qualified for free.

History

I-5W and the San Francisco Bay Area

Interstate 5W (I-5W) was originally conceived as part of a loop Interstate with a directional suffix and was what is now I-580 from I-5 to Oakland. However, I-5W and most of the other Interstates around the country with directional suffixes were eventually renumbered or eliminated, except for I-35E and

I-35W Interstate 35W may refer to: *Interstate 35W (Texas), an Interstate highway serving Fort Worth, Texas, and its suburbs *Interstate 35W (Minnesota), a Interstate highway serving Minneapolis, Minnesota, and its suburbs **The I-35W Mississippi River ...

in Texas and Minnesota, and more recently

I-69W Interstate 69W (I-69W) is a relatively short north–south Interstate Highway running through South Texas in the United States. The freeway begins northeast of the middle of World Trade International Bridge in Laredo and ends at I-35. In ...

I-69C Interstate 69C (I-69C) is a north–south freeway running through South Texas. Once complete, the freeway (with connections to Mexican Federal Highway 97) will begin at I-2/ U.S. Highway 83 (US 83) in Pharr and head northward b ...

, and I-69E in Texas. The former route of I-5W now corresponds to I-580 from I-5 to Oakland, I-80 from Oakland to

Vacaville Vacaville is a city located in Solano County in Northern California. Sitting approximately from Sacramento and from San Francisco, it is within the Sacramento Valley. As of the 2020 census, Vacaville had a population of 102,386, making it th ...

, and I-505 from Vacaville to I-5 near Dunnigan.

I-5 to Castro Valley

For the most part, the I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed over or alongside the

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

of US 50, previously part of the old

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is the first transcontinental highway in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated October 31, 191 ...

, during the course of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The segment which begins at the split with I-205 was constructed during the same period of time over a new right-of-way to a junction with I-5, running through some low hills on the west side of the

near the city of Patterson. In the 1990s, the freeway segment from Castro Valley through Pleasanton was enlarged and otherwise reengineered in conjunction with the construction of the Dublin/Pleasanton–Daly City line of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). The BART tracks were placed in a new median between the westbound and eastbound lanes of I-580 as was the new Dublin/Pleasantion station. The interchange with I-238 and the Hayward exit ramps was also reengineered at this time.

MacArthur Freeway: Castro Valley to Oakland

The I-580 freeway in this segment was constructed starting in February 1960, adjacent to the city streets which were part of US 50 between

and the large interchange along the eastern approach to the

now called the MacArthur Maze. The freeway was named in honor of World War II General

. Prior to the construction of this freeway, the various city streets of Oakland that were designated for US 50 (principally 38th Street, Hopkins Street, Moss Avenue, Excelsior Avenue, and part of Foothill Boulevard) had been renamed for the General as "MacArthur Boulevard" which, for the most part, still parallels the MacArthur Freeway. The renaming occurred on March 26, 1942, by a resolution of the Oakland City Council. The freeway was opened to traffic in eight segments until its completion in May 1966 (last segment, connecting with SR 238 (now I-238), in Castro Valley, opened May 20, 1966).

Oakland to San Rafael

The segment of I-580 running from the MacArthur Maze to San Rafael is the most recent to be signed as I-580, beginning in 1984. Before 1984, this segment was part of SR 17. From the Maze to the interchange locally known as the "Hoffman Split" in Albany, just north of the Gilman Street interchange (Hoffman Boulevard was the predecessor of I-580 in this section), I-580 follows the Eastshore Freeway, a

with I-80 for its entirety: northward on the Eastshore is signed I-80 east and I-580 west; headed southward, one finds signs indicating I-80 west and I-580 east. At the Hoffman Split, I-580 leaves the Eastshore Freeway in a northwesterly direction through the cities of Albany and

. It then crosses

over the

. The freeway in this section, officially named the John T. Knox Freeway, was constructed from 1987 to 1991. It replaced a number of city streets which comprised the earlier highway leading to the San Rafael Bridge, principally, Hoffman and Cutting boulevards. After crossing the bridge, I-580 runs west to San Rafael, ending at an interchange with US 101. This freeway segment supplanted an earlier boulevard constructed as part of SR 17.

Interstate 180

Interstate 180 (I-180) was a temporary designation used in 1978 for the

, now part of I-580. At the time, the bridge had been identified as part of SR 17 but was marked for inclusion in the Interstate Highway System. Briefly the bridge used the number 180, despite the Fresno-area SR 180's use of the number. The California Streets and Highways Code has a policy against using one route number for multiple noncontiguous highways. Unless the existing SR 180 is renumbered, which is unlikely due to its familiarity as the road to Kings Canyon National Park, there will not be an I-180 in California.

Future

The segment of I-580 from I-680 to I-205 is undergoing significant expansion. Among the projects along this segment is the now-completed high-occupancy vehicle lanes in each direction, a westbound auxiliary lane between Fallon and Tassajara roads, the now-completed construction of a new interchange at Isabel Avenue in Livermore, the reconstruction of several interchanges, the construction of additional truck climbing lanes for the eastward ascent to the

, and plans to preserve the right-of-way to accommodate a future BART extension in the median of the freeway.

Exit list

In popular culture

* I-580 features prominently throughout the ''

Sons of Anarchy ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club ...

'' series. The backstory of the series establishes that " First 9" (SAMCRO cofounder) John Teller died in a collision on November 13, 1993, 15 years before the pilot episode takes place, and

SAMCRO ''Sons of Anarchy'' is an American action crime drama television series created by Kurt Sutter for FX. Originally aired from September 3, 2008 to December 9, 2014, ''Sons of Anarchy'' follows the lives of a close-knit outlaw motorcycle club o ...

establishes a roadside memorial to Teller near the crash site. In the final scenes of the series finale, Jax rides his father's restored classic motorcycle to visit that memorial, before taking a last ride on I-580. * I-580 through the Altamont Pass is a stage in the 2011 racing video game '' Need for Speed: The Run''.

Notes

References

External links

Bay Area FasTrak
– includes toll information on the I-580 Express Lanes, the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge, and the other Bay Area toll facilities
Caltrans: Route580 highway conditions
{{3di, 80 80-5 Lincoln Highway 580 80-5 California U.S. Route 50 5 California Interstate 80-5 Interstate 80-5 Interstate 80-5 Interstate 80-5 580