Deadly I-80 smash up blocks lanes, bogs down East Bay commute

A fatal crash involving a big rig and several other vehicles shut down eastbound Interstate 80 for more than an hour and was clogging the commute in Contra Costa County Thursday morning, the California Highway patrol said. A Sig-alert was issued and all lanes of eastbound I-80 were closed around 3:45 a.m. as crews worked to collect evidence and tow away the damaged vehicles. The roadway was completely reopened around 6:40 a.m., but traffic in the eastbound direction was heavy and televised news reports showed westbound traffic, in the commute direction, coming to a crawl as onlookers slowed to see what was happening.