PDT OAKLAND - After a weekend away, drivers returned to the Bay Bridge this morning to try out a new lane configuration at the toll plaza - bringing the normal traffic along with them.Despite the addition of a FasTrak-only toll booth, grouping of FasTrak lanes in the center of the toll plaza and extension of the FasTrak-only corridor back almost to the MacArthur Maze, many commuters said the backup appeared to be about the same as any other morning.
"It pretty much seemed like business as usual," said Trent Ehrgood, who didn't have to worry at all about FasTrak because he rode a carpool in from Oakland.
The bridge was closed for Labor Day weekend while Caltrans contractors replaced a portion of the upper deck, but opened Monday evening, 11 hours ahead of schedule. Caltrans took advantage of the closure to move the FasTrak-only lanes, which used to be scattered across the plaza, to the center of the highway. The mini-plaza to the right remains FasTrak-only.
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