3 lanes closed indefinitely on Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, toll plaza damaged after crash: Caltrans

RICHMOND, Calif. (KGO) -- Caltrans says the three right westbound lanes of the toll plaza at the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge will be shut down indefinitely until repairs can be made.

This comes after a semi-truck crashed into a toll booth on the westbound lanes of the bridge Monday night.

Both the truck and the toll booth went up in flames.

The driver was killed.

RELATED: Driver killed after big rig crashes into Richmond-San Rafael Bridge toll booth, CHP says

A semi driver was killed after crashing into a toll booth on the westbound lanes of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge near Richmond, the CHP said.

Two days later, three of the seven lanes at the toll plaza were still shut down, causing backups as long as five miles.

"They did significant damage to that toll booth, also our overhead signage also melted away and so just the heat from that big rig fire definitely caused some significant damage to that toll booth," Pedro Quintana, a spokesperson for Caltrans District 4 said.

According to Caltrans, an average of 40,000 drivers cross the westbound lanes of the bridge at the toll plaza every day.

Now, Caltrans officials say permitted wide-loads aren't allowed to cross the bridge because of the damage.

And three lanes of traffic at the toll plaza will stay closed indefinitely until repairs can be made.

"Right now, those lanes are unsafe for travel and so what we need to do is be sure that we're able to replace that equipment, make sure that everything is safe for our motorists, that way we can open the additional three lanes," Quintana said.

But they say, they're still waiting to come up with a game plan of how they can remove the damaged equipment and replace it.

"We're just asking motorists to be patient with us but also give us some extra time, plan an alternate route, there's other highways they can take," he said. "They can take I-80, or if they're coming from Marin County, they can take SR-37 and connect to I-80 as well."

A GoFundMe account has been created for the driver killed in the crash. To make a donation, visit here.

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