Oakland Ca Reconstruction

Eight years and $1 billion later, traffic flowed over the Cypress Freeway on Wednesday for the first time since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake collapsed the roadway and killed 42 people. California Highway Patrol cars led the first convoy of vehicles, which rolled at about 5:04 a.m., said Caltrans spokesman Stephen Williams. The roadway, now the most expensive freeway in the nation, opened in time to relieve the crowded morning commute to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Eight years and $1 billion later, traffic flowed over the Cypress Freeway on Wednesday for the first time since the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake collapsed the roadway and killed 42 people. California Highway Patrol cars led the first convoy of vehicles, which rolled at about 5:04 a.m., said Caltrans spokesman Stephen Williams. The roadway, now the most expensive freeway in the nation, opened in time to relieve the crowded morning commute to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

High in the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay, victims of the great fire of 1991 are taking roost once again. Hammers are flying, saws are buzzing and lumber trucks trundle noisily about from daybreak until dusk. What is missing is the giddy spirit of renewal. Once united in the communal glow of survival, fire victims are a divided bunch, locked in warfare over what some see as a new menace to their scenic hills--"monster homes." Monster homes are, in a word, monstrous.

Nearly eight years after the massive Loma Prieta earthquake ravaged the Bay Area, the symbol of the temblor's greatest destruction is rising from the rubble. The first leg of the Cypress Freeway, which killed 42 motorists when it collapsed during rush-hour in the 7.1-magnitude quake, is scheduled to reopen before dawn today. Workers will have toiled through the night to finish striping most of the 5.2-mile stretch of pristine asphalt and concrete.

Nearly eight years after the massive Loma Prieta earthquake ravaged the Bay Area, the symbol of the temblor's greatest destruction is rising from the rubble. The first leg of the Cypress Freeway, which killed 42 motorists when it collapsed during rush-hour in the 7.1-magnitude quake, is scheduled to reopen before dawn today. Workers will have toiled through the night to finish striping most of the 5.2-mile stretch of pristine asphalt and concrete.

High in the hills overlooking San Francisco Bay, victims of the great fire of 1991 are taking roost once again. Hammers are flying, saws are buzzing and lumber trucks trundle noisily about from daybreak until dusk. What is missing is the giddy spirit of renewal. Once united in the communal glow of survival, fire victims are a divided bunch, locked in warfare over what some see as a new menace to their scenic hills--"monster homes." Monster homes are, in a word, monstrous.