The MacArthur Maze (or simply the Maze, also called the Distribution Structure) is a large freeway interchange near the east end of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in Oakland, California. It splits Bay Bridge traffic into three freeways—the Eastshore (I-80/I-580), MacArthur (I-580) and Nimitz (I-880).
Description
San Francisco Bay Area traffic funnels across the few bridges spanning the bay, so the Maze's central location near the east end of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge makes it a hub for east–west and north–south traffic accessing San Francisco and Oakland. It is also next to the Port of Oakland, the fourth busiest container port in the United States.
The four freeways intersecting at this interchange are:
Interstate 80 from the Maze heads west across the Bay Bridge into San Francisco, where it joins US 101.
The Interstate 80/Interstate 580 wrong-way concurrency from the Maze heads north through Berkeley and western Contra Costa County. Just north of the Berkeley-Albany border, approximately north of the Maze, the concurrency splits. Interstate 80 heads northeast towards Sacramento. Interstate 580 heads northwest towards the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and eventually to Marin County, where it joins U.S. 101 in San Rafael.
Interstate 580 from the Maze heads southeast through Oakland. A mile southeast is an interchange with State Route 24/Interstate 980, a corridor for commuters from Contra Costa County. I-580 continues southeast along the foot of the hills (and nearly atop the trace of the Hayward Fault) to Castro Valley. I-580 then turns east and continues through the Livermore Valley, over Altamont Pass, and ending up near Tracy where it terminates at Interstate 5.
Interstate 880 from the Maze heads south and southeast through Oakland along the Oakland Estuary, past the Oakland International Airport, and the Oakland Coliseum, then through southern Alameda County to San Jose where it turns into Highway 17 to Santa Cruz.
Local traffic using the interchange includes East Bay commuters to and from San Francisco via the Bay Bridge, as well as drivers traveling up and down the East Bay. For long-distance traffic accessing other parts of the country, I-80 is the primary Interstate Highway for points east. Although Interstate 5, the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, bypasses the Bay Area to the east, connections are provided to the Maze via I-505 and I-80 from the north, and I-580 to the south. Furthermore, drivers on US 101 who want to bypass San Francisco can use I-880 from San Jose to the Maze, and then I-580 across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
Despite the interchange's size, it does not permit complete freedom of movement. Drivers approaching the Maze on I-880 from the south cannot directly access I-580 east, nor can drivers on I-580 from the east directly access I-880 south.
In at least one instance, the MacArthur Maze has been considered to include or instead refer to the four-level stack interchange completed in 1985 between California State Route 24, Interstate 980, and Interstate 580, approximately east of the East Bay Distribution Structure. However, CalTrans unequivocally regards "MacArthur Maze" as only referring to the Distribution Structure.
History
The maze was constructed along with the Bay Bridge in the 1930s; construction of the Distribution Structure itself started on April 8, 1934. Although the official name was the East Bay Distribution Structure, the media and public nicknamed it the "Maze" as early as June of 1936. The site, wholly contained within the city of Oakland, was chosen as it was a key point where tracks from the Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, and Key System railroads intersected. The first configuration was relatively simple: westbound traffic from 38th St (later MacArthur Blvd) merged with northbound traffic from Cypress St and crossed above the Southern Pacific tracks, then split into ramps north to the Eastshore Highway (US 40) and west to the Bay Bridge. A parallel set of ramps handled eastward/southward traffic. Film footage of the early Maze can be seen in the 1941 movie Shadow of the Thin Man, as Nick and Nora Charles drive off the Bay Bridge on their way to Golden Gate Fields in Albany.