Bay Bridge Power Outage: Bay Bridge Still Open

Bay Bridge Power Outage Slows San Francisco Commute

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A power outage in San Francisco has darkened the Bay Bridge during the March 17 predawn commute, as well as parts of SoMa (South of Market). The San Francisco power outage struck at around 5:45am.

The metering lights, which guide traffic to the toll plaza, were unaffected by the power outage, and the lights are still working at the toll plaza itself, but the Bay Bridge's deck lights, as well as the aircraft warning and nautical navigation lights, were off. Commuters made their way across the span in the dark.

Traffic was apparently not affected too badly, since the Bay Area commute is slow even on a normal day. 

Second Bay Bridge Power Outage in a Month

The cause of the power outage is still under investigation. This is the second power outage to hit the Bay Bridge in less than a month. On February 22, a smoking manhole cut off power to SoMa residents, as well as cutting the lights to the Bay Bridge during the evening commute.

That power outage lasted just over two hours.