Not ‘Friday nice’ for commuters

Traffic was snarled Friday morning again on westbound I-580 heading into Livermore, and again because a big rig overturned on the freeway at Vasco Road.

Then, at 7:45 a.m., Pleasanton and BART police closed the BART East station on Owens Drive after a suspicious package found near the platform. Commuters were advised to use the BART West station instead.

The big-rig that flipped was removed from the highway after 10 a.m., a California Highway Patrol officer said.

The big-rig was traveling west on the highway near Vasco Road at about 4:45 a.m. when the driver lost control of the truck and veered to the right, CHP Officer Steve Creel said.

The truck hit a small truck that had stopped on the side of the road because it ran out of gas, veered back to the left and hit the highway’s center divider, Creel said.

It flipped over the center divider, with the trailer landing in the eastbound lanes of the highway.

The driver of the truck that had run out of gas was the only person injured and suffered moderate injuries, Creel said.

A mobile crane was called to remove the trailer, which was full of cattle feed and en route to Oakland, from the eastbound lanes of the highway, Creel said.

The overturned big rig accident came just five days after a similar accident spilled a truck load of bananas to spill into the median lanes of the freeway, causing up to a three-hour morning rush hour back up at one point.

Scott Morris, Bay City News contributed to this report.

Scott Morris, Bay City News contributed to this report.