Crime & Safety
Standoff Snarls Traffic On Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
An incident Friday on the eastbound bridge stretched into early Saturday morning, according to the CHP.
SAN RAFAEL, CA — Eastbound traffic on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge remained shut down early Saturday as a standoff with a disturbed person passed 12 hours, the California Highway Patrol said.
The lanes were closed at 11:40 a.m. Friday as a crisis negotiation team worked to bring the man off the bridge safely, CHP spokesman Darrel Horner said.
Traffic was blocked to "not cause him to jump off or cause him to fall into the water and also keeping that communication open," Horner said.
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Westbound traffic on the 5.5-mile bridge remained open.
The bridge, which carries Interstate Highway 580 across the northern end of San Francisco Bay, connects Marin and Contra Costa counties.
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"We're just doing what we can to help this individual," Horner said. "We do this all the time on the Golden Gate Bridge."
The man apparently rode a bicycle onto the bridge's upper, westbound level, then climbed down to the lower, eastbound lanes, Horner said.
Traffic onto the bridge was closed at Main Street and at Bellam Boulevard in San Rafael, he said.
Horner recommended that motorists check 511.org to see where traffic was the heaviest and take an alternate route.
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