Caldecott Tunnel

Cool tunnel! It’s a must when going from Walnut Creek to SF or the surrounding cities like we did. (Or vice versa). Not much to say about a tunnel but like other reviews. You go in and you hope you come back out! :)

Wow this necessary and important tunnel connects Ordina with Oakland. The new tunnel section is awesome with the fans. I wonder how fast they blow? The pavement is smooth but the speed limit is 5o Mph. This tunnel doses it jobs well. The tunnel is really pretty, and on 1 side it is hot while on the other it is refreshing.
Pros:
No traffic lights
Free!
Lights
Quick
Cons:
50 Mph/​80 Kph speed limit
No bikes

The Caldecott Tunnel is a welcome part of commuting in the San Francisco Bay Area. It connects Orinda in Contra Costa County with Oakland in Alameda County. Traffic is just a question of bad or really bad. It was modified, but population increases should return it back to its packed as sardines state of being. Therefore, try considering Bay Area Rapid Transit’s subways as an alternative for your commute.
There are many memories that I have of going through this tunnel. It can be quick going the opposite direction of the most popular commute at a given time. They do shift which direction has more space throughout the day. Because transit tends to be faster around these parts, there is a case for the Caldecott Tunnel being good, but not one for it being fantastic.
A competent source of infrastructure is found within the Caldecott Tunnel.

What is there to say? Ya go in one end, and hopefully ya come outta the other! I’ve never been stuck in it so it gets 5 stars!

I was just driving back from Reno Sunday night and I usually go through the Caldecott tunnels coming from Concord and switch over to Highway 13 right after exiting the tunnel. I thought, hey I wonder if there is a listing on Unilocal for the tunnels, like there is a listing for all the freeways it seems and bridges! Well, here it is!
Since the 4^th bore opened, the traffic is a whole lot better, at least in the direction that was gonna have only 1 tunnel open at the time, squeezing down to 2 lanes from 4. I get the point of another reviewer that having the 4^th bore didn’t help any if you were stuck on the commute direction side that would have had 2 tunnels and 4 lanes open anyways … yep there is still a back up of sorts, even though there is no reduction in lanes. Whatta ya gonna do, Bay Area traffic! The new tunnel is the one on the right as you approach from Orinda. This has helped the back up and all those lane cheaters getting off the freeway at one exit just to re-​renter at the on ramp to get ahead just that little bit. If it was bad I used to get off at Fish ranch and head to the top of the hills and take Grizzly Peak back over to the Montclair Hills. On motorcycle, that was more fun anyways. But now with backup less severe, it’s easy to take the new tunnel and exit to 13 right away.
One thing that bugs me about these tunnels … TURN ON YOUR HEADLIGHTS PEOPLE! There is even a sign instructing you to. What happens if the power goes out and the lights in the tunnel turn off suddenly … AHHH! HIT THE BRAKES! CRASH! Some cars have the daylight running lights, but if you don’t, turn on your lights!
I don’t know why Caltrans was able to get this new tunnel done on time and more or less within budget, and the stupid new Bay Bridge is waaay over budget and opened waaay behind schedule and now still it’s already rusting and falling apart!
The Caldecott gets the job done … just don’t get a flat inside!

Okay I admit it, I have gotten the feeling that is this part of my work. I use it to transfer between BART stations when i have to fill in for someone. Crazy of me to think this way and to this day I will remember why. This tunnel is actually pretty cool because there is so much history here. I have gotten word that this place is over 50 years old. I don’t use highway 24 that often but this place seems to attract commuters of all types. For residential commuters it helps them connect to San Francisco and the part of the east bay that is near San Jose. I forget if all the tunnels are used for both directions but that does not matter. Most of the time during the work hours it is easy for people to. The first time I heard of this place was on the news and they made the right decision of telling me about this place.
Drawback: this tunnel goes on for a long time so no videoing. IDT if this is a drawback but a paranormal activity here can make the tunnel scary

I love the new tunnel — borge 4! It is SO nice! I wish all the tunnels could get updated like the new one! Now I get a little scared when I go through some of the older ones!

I should disclose that I’m not a tunnel expert, but I have been through many in my day and this one in particular like a million times, so I guess I can have a point of view. The Caldecott, especially now with the 4^th bore is A-​OK!
The 4^th bore tunnel seemed to take forever to build but they did such a gorgeous job. It’s round, symmetrical shape makes it feel a little more modern, the lighting is great and I love the exhaust fans that they have in the ceiling as well as all the emergency exits.
Many moons ago when I was going to graduate school in the city and had to trek through the tunnel in reverse commute hours, I would DREAD the 4 lane to 2 lane merge. I would cringe at all the traffic cheaters that would get off the freeway right by the Shakespeare park only to left turn back onto the freeway to cut off the right lane headed to the third bore. And now all of that is just a distant memory because the 4^th bore has saved humanity from traffic cheaters… well maybe not everywhere but at least here.
While I don’t really thing the Caldecott is going to save the world, it’s a cool tunnel and I’ll give it a 3 star A-​OK in my book.

I’m oddly a fan of engineering efforts like bridges and tunnels. I’ve traveled through the Cadelcott tunnel many times in the last 4 years. Fortunately I’ve rarely had to go in the commute direction, but I definitely remember what it was like before the fourth bore, especially on weekends — the difference now is night and day.
Still, the other tunnels do seem dangerously narrow (maybe because people go too fast), especially in the West bound direction downhill, and you need to be careful changing lanes.
It might be nice if there were a pedestrian or bicycle route, but I think that’s quite a different problem compared for example to the Bay Bridge. Anyway, I’m glad it’s there. Don’t take it for granted.

One of the old tunnels is dark as crap, narrow and scary. Why am I reviewing tunnels? How dumb. I guess they’re okay… for tunnels.
3 stars.

Caldecott Tunnel is so much better now that the new tunnel is opened and it’s 4 lanes each direction. Now I hardly hit major traffics and happy as I can be driving through. Going west bound towards San Francisco, the tunnel on the right is the newest one, and the drive through that tunnel is the smoothest.

I can’t believe I’m writing my second review if a tunnel (the first was for the Waldo Tunnel in Marin County). Gosh, I need to get a life! When you travel eastward you exit the tunnel into the beautiful rolling hills of Orinda and Lafayette. The three old bores (not boring people, but tubes through the mountain) are quite dated, dark, and narrow, while the new bore that opened in 2013 is obviously quite different.

GREAT since the 4^th Bore.
Drive up top and relax while you watch traffic!

4 BORES = ?
So they just finished the fourth bore. Have I noticed any difference with my commute from Concord to San Leandro?
NO.
Since I am not going the opposite direction of all the other commuters there has been no difference in my commute. Actually its been taking me longer lately but I can’t put that on the tunnel its probably because its dark outside when driving home.
When there was only three bores I still had two tunnels each way so adding this fourth bore only helped those commuters heading in the opposite direction.
I think its time to start thinking about 6 bores, or am i just getting greedy?

It’s open.
I don’t know where the state found the money to build both the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge AND the fourth bore of the Caldecott Tunnel in the same year. But I’ve done both now, and I’m impressed.
I gave the tunnel 3 stars because of the first two tunnels. They might have been fine for the 1930s, but now, they’re narrow and not well lit. As for the third, it was built in the 1960s, and it’s better. And if you want to play dangerously, you can do like I did when I owned a BMW and see if you can hit 100 when driving toward Oaktown.
Now, the 4^th bore: impressive! Bigger than the third one. Room to park in an emergency, with phones well marked and well spaced. The fans are outside instead of hidden. I didn’t play the radio, so I don’t know about radio reception. I know people who get very nervous driving through the Caldecott because it’s so narrow, they will have no trouble with the fourth bore.
No more squeezing four lanes into two. Smaller traffic backup, if any. Few Caltrans projects were worth their money; 108 south of Sonora was, and this one is too.
To end this review: the laborers building this tunnel sure had a boring job. And SF workers who live near Walnut Creek and need to drive to work, many of them pick up two other commuters before the Caldecott so they can cross the Bay Bridge for $ 2 (was free, grrr), so they end up with carpool tunnel syndrome. Punnerful, punnerful, punnerful. ..

The new bore is a HUGE improvement! Only about a zillion years late too. But just in time for this year’s Christmas party.
Too bad it wasn’t ready in time for our last two Christmas parties in the city. Boy, was it fun driving through the Caldecott on a Saturday evening. Although it still managed to beat going across the Bay Bridge.
The new tunnel is awesome. I no longer fear for my life driving through the Caldecott.

Time: 2:38pm
Purpose: On way to visit relatives.
Structure: The 4^th bore of cadelcott tunnel
Punch Line: Bottleneck is cut virtually to none, bright, clean, smooth pavement, state of the art ventilation, bright call boxes, its not a temporary this will be here from now on.
Final Thoughts: I’ve always been dreadful of driving into contra Costa from SF. Lanes of vehicles stretch to the back of MacArthur Bart and beyond sometimes. A broken car is the worst as it will become one lane and it’s no fun inching your way through. Well that was then and this is now what a great job they did here I zoom pass tunnel like an Indy car driver. I wish this was built back 17 years ago when I was driving back and forth if I add up of those time it probably would be in the thousands of hours and that is money as I was a salesman back them. What a relieved!

I got my first chance to drive through the new 4^th Bore today and I was excited! I was in the Westbound direction and there was no longer any need to apply my «4 Lanes to 2» strategy or deal with the 2^nd Bore direction change over. Also gone is the opportunity to drive Westbound in the 2^nd Bore. But that’s progress.
It was a fine ride through the shiny new and nicely lit Tunnel. Electronic signs welcomed my to the 4^th Bore, there were also fans overhead, and pull over lane was now available on the right. The traffic transitions were smooth on both ends and just like a roller coaster, I wanted to go back and try it again! My only concern is the Law of Entropy, where traffic will eventually fill up this long-​sought extra capacity.

Four stars because it gets me where I need to go and is essentially my lifeline for leaving the blazing heat of Contra Costa County this time of year.
What can I say, it’s a tunnel. If you’re lucky and time it right, you’ll have two tunnels available to you. The merges aren’t well set up and it can be a nightmare at times.
I remember my first ride through the tunnel was on the way from Oakland airport to Walnut Creek for a job interview and the tunnel seemed downright magical. At certain times the fog hovers over the nearby hills, wanting to stretch in to Orinda and try as I might, I’ve never been able to capture a good photo of that (don’t worry, just taking photos as a passenger)
Pros: No toll (hey I’m from NY and you’re lucky if you can leave your street without a toll plaza), scenic to look at (if you can avoid focusing on the current construction of the much anticipated «fourth bore») and the best feeling in the whole world is going west bound and coming out of the tunnel feeling the cooler air hit your face.
Cons: People don’t know how to properly merge, naturally it sucks if you’re trying to go the direction that only one tunnel is opened in and sometimes, even though I think I’ve got the schedule nailed down, I’ll miss the 2 tunnel option going Westbound.
Excited for the 4^th bore and it seems to be coming along nicely. Safe Travels…
The Unilocal 100 Challenge!!!

SAFETY THIRD
Not sure why the tunnel builder didn’t start out with four tunnels but luckily in a year or two this will be the final result. The tunnel diggers have been hard at work on the fourth hole and it’s coming soon! Though, I think the new bridge will be here first! (That’s opening on Labor Day weekend 2013!)
The Caldecott Tunnel is a great place to observe drivers that don’t know how to merge. If you’d like to see wonderful examples of terrible driving, feel free to drive through the tunnel at various times of the day. It doesn’t have to be commuting hours to witness the examplary drivers. Many drivers exit the freeway before the merge and then get back on, passing some of the cars. I don’t think they help or hurt the traffic… I have no complaints, though, it’s not my style to get off the freeway unless I am actually getting off the freeway.
I like merging. I like letting the proper car in to merge with traffic. I do NOT like when another car tries to sneak past us and merge ahead. I especially do not like this if another car lets them in. I’m more likely to make sure that they merge in the proper place. Nobody wants to get near my classic car so this is not hard to do. Please people: left lane, right lane, repeat. Don’t cut in the merge line!
Gather your patience for the slow traffic days. When traffic’s moving, no patience needed. Tunnel driving is a breeze! Don’t forget to turn on your headlights!