Two Bay Area freeways closed for commute following pair of big-rig wrecks

A pair of freeway crashes involving big rigs caused two big traffic backups and created a commute mess early Wednesday, the California Highway Patrol said.

At 6 a.m., the CHP had a hard closure in effect for state Highway 24 westbound just after the Caldecott Tunnel, and they also had lanes closed on the transition ramp from Interstate 238 to northbound Interstate 880.

The CHP did not report injuries in either of the crashes.

The Highway 24 closure came after a big rig with sod, grass and dirt overturned about a half-mile west of the Caldecott Tunnel about 4:55 a.m., the CHP said. The crash left the material all over the freeway lanes.

The CHP diverted traffic from Highway 24 onto northbound state Highway 13 through Berkeley.

Commuters who were diverted were able to take Ashby Avenue all the way to Interstate 80 or follow the signs back onto freeway on the MacArthur Maze, according to the agency.

Caltrans was working to get a big-rig tow truck to the site, but there was no estimate for when it would be there or for when the lanes would be open.

The other wreck happened about 2:20 a.m., and ended up with a heavy duty tractor trailer on its side, the CHP said.

Traffic on northbound I-238 was forced onto southbound I-880, and northbound I-880 was closed about 5 a.m. The CHP said they did not expect the clean-up of the area to be finished until at least 8 a.m.