we want to get the work done as efficiently as possible so we can get drivers on the new east span as quickly as possible. >> i think there is a sense of relief, excitement that all this work is about to finally pay off. >> the architecture, the style of that bridge, we both love it. >> good morning, it is thursday, august 29th, i'm now is 4:00, it's early. this is a special edition of kpix5 this morning, we are helping you get around the bay bridge shut down. we will start with elizabeth winger in the traffic center. >> all systems go. the bay bridge closed with no big

issues. we're the san mateo bridge will be a big one to get around the bay bridge closure. traffic is maybe a touch heavier than we usually see at this time of the morning, but obviously a great ride, only about 15 minutes right now, out of heyward, toward the other side, toward the peninsula. other alternates the golden gate bridge and the richmond span are light. thank you. a live look at all the construction work by the bay bridge toll plaza, we're counting down to the opening of the eastern span. a key part of this project takes place right here, where crews are recreating lanes leading up to the new bridge. kpix5 kristen airs is here with more. >> reporter: only the fifth time in its history the bay bridge shut down entirely. it took only minutes for a parade of construction crews and highway

patrol, lights flashing to take over the approach to the toll plaza: the first pass, a massive paving project from the mcarthur main to the bridge. >> they will move into position and grind up the asphalt. >> crews will bring in 1000 truck loads of new asphalt to create a whole new roadway. that will have to set for days before they can start striping. while that is happening a massive demolition project will begin on the approach to the actual bridge. >> they'll be demolishing a 1000-foot long section. original deck approach on to the bridge. >> reporter: another thousand truck loads of concrete will be carried away after the demolition, a process that will make room for the bike path on the new bridge. bridge officials say these are the final finishing touches on a project that crews have been preparing for, for years. >> i think there is a sense of excitement and also some relief that all of this work is about to finally pay off. >> you'll tell your kids i was

part of that bay bridge when they took down the old one and put up the new one. it will be good. >> and right now, bart trains are running, they are operating throughout the night 24-7 through monday night. overnight service will be limited. the embarcadero station in san francisco was packed late last night. one conductor told us it was quite a bit busier than usual. we are at the dublin plaza at the bart station. we hope everything is going nice and smooth. >> reporter: good morning. this place is busier than normal, because normally at 4:00 a.m. there would be no bart service at this station, but today, bart is running on what they call a modified x service. here are facts to know if you're thinking of taking bart over the next several days. bart is running 24 hours at 14 stations, but that service is limited. trains are scheduled hourly, all trains will meet at the mcarthur station, where you can transfer.

no overnight service monday into tuesday and monday labor day bart is running on a saturday schedule. during regular service hours starting at 5:00 a.m., a bart is running longer cars all day trying to absorb the thousands of extra passengers that would otherwise be taking the bay bridge, but others are still opting for the roadway, taxi drivers will be cashing in. >> take the people through the bart, the ones into the city, then the one going to other places will go over the san mateo bridge. that's going to be 130 bucks instead of 70. >> yeah, $130, bart is a cheaper alternative during the labor day weekend, five day closure. four years ago, bart saw a 30 percent increase. now, if you are heading to a bart station today, you're not used to it, maybe you don't have a monthly parking pass, make sure you park in the fee areas because you do have to pay for parking today and tomorrow. parking is free on the weekend and on monday as

well. things running smoothly if you're trying to take bart, now would be the time. >> transit will have extra buses to four east bay bart stations. there will be additional ferry service and cal tran is running bike shuttles across the golden gate and ridge field bridges. we are at the alameda station. >> if you can't travel by bart, you can travel by the san francisco bay ferry, has beefed up their options, or actually ferries for commuters trying to get to the other side from the east bay over to san francisco. not it will operate on a normal schedule, but you can expect to see more boats in the water. so if you're ferry bound over the next couple days they've increased services. there are going to be 20 departures from oakland to san francisco. there's going to be 21 from

alameda, 15 departures from villajo and 12 from harbor bay to san francisco. ferries will offer direct service through alameda main street to the city and oakland to san francisco, typically both of those cities will share a boat. i'm looking at the parking lot, it's all quiet here at the alameda ferry area, but in the next couple of moments you can expect this whole area will be filled up. if you are planning to catch a ferry from this area, you might want to get here early so you can get a spot on the ferry. reporting live in alameda, kpix5. thank you. roberto gonzalez is catching out the the drive from pleasant ton to san francisco. just about to get ready for the big commute right? >> reporter: absolutely frank. we are on the corner of burnall and valley, outside the alameda

county fairgrounds. this commute is usually about 40 to 45 minutes from pleasanton to san francisco. we'll be hopping in and taking you for the ride to see how long it will take us. it is 4:00 a.m., why are you awake? but it's 4:00 a.m., so it's not going to take us as long initially for that first 60 minutes. but the 586 corridor is less than a quarter mile down the road. mobile 5 jumping on the 680 for 3 miles, then catching the 580 to the 238. the 238 to the 92, the 92 to the 880, the 880 to 101 and that will be our morning commute from the try valley all the way into san francisco. so come on along we're going to go for the ride and enjoy. reporting from pleasanton, roberta gonzalez, kpix, mobile 5. we're helping you get around for the survival guide, go

kpix.com,/bridge. the last car went through the bridge last night, moments later the 1930s model a car went across, that was the first car to go across the bridge when it originally opened. most people rushed to get home in the final hours before the bridge closure. but kpix5 reporters show us some went to the bridge to say goodbye. >> reporter: don't you have a better place to be right now? >> i do. but i want to have a memory, lasting memory of the bridge. >> the shore of treasure island was the place to be for those who grew up driving the bridge every day. those who feel a special bond and love it warts and all. >> i'll miss the architecture and that style of that particular bridge. we both love it. >> reporter: it was a bittersweet sunrise for rick, who choked back tears to take one last photo. >> i would love to just capture the very last day of it and just make, you know, a momentous occasion of it.

>> reporter: the flood of nostalgia continued on social media, hundreds of photos of every possible angle, not to mention the driving videos, dozens shot within the past few days page after page, often with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand on the camera. many of them tagged with lines like goodbye old friend. >> you know, change and, you know, breathe and go on. >> reporter: and there are a couple lucky people who will get a front row seat to all the action. they live and work on treasure island, but can only come and go with a chp escort. >> people living on the island will need to get a permit to get on and off. demolition of the old bridge will take three years because of the environmental and structural concerns, crews cannot just blast the old bridge abay. three to dismantle it piece by piece to avoid a collapse. some of the old bridge will be kept for historic purposes, but most

will be sold for scrap. the total job is $240 million. time now is 4:10, it is early. but not too early to see what our is going on. >> i was hoping they were going to blow up the old bridge. >> that would have been more exciting to see. >> taking it apart. i guess that's safer. >> now the bay area we are looking at patchy dense fog again and drizzle early on today. yeah, very damp out toward the roadway and coastline, watch out for that. you know what? we are going to be in for a warmer day ahead. how about this beautiful live shot for you? a nice great start to the day. we've got plenty of clouds looking toward the tower, a little moisture on the lens. as we head through the day, the temperatures are starting mild early on, 64 in san jose, 62 in san francisco, and 63 in live more, but by the afternoon, we will see low 90s inland, plenty of 70s, couple 80s inside the bay and 60s back along the coastline.

changes though coming up for the labor day holiday. we'll talk about that in a moment, but let's check the roads about lydia. >> we have a lot of changes on the roads today. the commute will be all kind of messed up. all different routes, we'll be busier than usual, not just the bridges. the golden gate bridge will be busier than we're used to see but the approaches getting that southbound 880, a lot of folks will head toward the san mateo bridge. at this hour, everything is moving at the limit. we did have a stalled big rig blocking a lane behind the pay gates of the golden gate bridge, but that's not causing a delay at 4:11 this morning, you're cruising along on the live traffic sensors, 59 miles per hour, at 65 between 101 and 280. maybe a little fog may slow you down but other cars won't. everything is looking good there. including 237, i want to let you know 237 might be a good alternate as well. it backs up sat the san mateo

bridge, 237 looks good for silicon valley riders. mass transit the biggest option, the best option today, bart 24 hour service. ferries and buses are also ramping things up as well. that's traffic, back to you. we still need to be able to protect the county of marin. >> the area county's fire department is stretched thin fighting fires around the state here. how is the state covered if disaster strikes at home? u.n. investigators in syria may be running out of time. the president is lining up a possible military strike against the country. ,,,,

(ad lib scene) the bay bridge is sh we're looking live at the construction work, by the bay bridge toll plaza, no commuters just a bunch of construction vehicles for the next five days. they have a lot of work to do. the bay bridge as you all know is shut down, set to reopen with the debut of the eastern span hopefully by tuesday morning. the fastest growing wild fire in the nation, we have new images to prove it. check out the time lapse video checking out the rim fire in action. flames have charred more than 380 square miles, 100,000 acres in yosemite. international guards have dropped more than 188,000 gallons of water on the fire since august 20th. the 129th rescue wing is the only air national guard unit certified to fight the fire

from the air with water bucket years. we went to the front lines to check out the damage firsthand. >> reporter: we want to show viewers how devastating this fire is. take a look, this is completely scorched earth and it goes on for miles and miles and miles. all the way to hedge hetchy, you can see the fire raging in the high country. you can see over my other shoulder, the power lines that are going there, those power lines have no power in them. that was burned out by the fire. >> you saw the smoke over ken's shoulder there. that is nothing compared to this huge cloud hanging over downtown groveland, 40 miles away. an 18-year-old skateboarder took this photo. dozens of firefighters from across the bay area have joined the fight against the rim fire. yesterday morning a group from alameda county packed their bags and headed for yosemite. for the latest updates go to our

website kpix.com,/fire. you will see interactive maps for how far it's spread an the communities impacted. a wild fire as big as the rim fire needs a lot of help from around the state. at least some local crews stretched my tee thin. john ramos explains how they keep their own home covered. >> fighting wild fires like the rim fire is hot, smoky, dangerous work. but ask anyone on the fire line and they'll tell you, that's just the way they like it. there is an adrenaline rush that goes along with this job, we love it, you know. we look for that. if something is going to happen you want it to happen when you're working so that you can go to it. >> reporter: marin county's fire headquarters things seem normal but the department has dispatched more than a quarter of its personnel to fighting wild fires in other parts of the state. >> california is a national leader with mutual aid. we have an organized system that we can get hundreds of fire engines and apparatus on the road.

>> the mutual aid system is a complex set of state and local agreements that effectively turn firefighting into a pool system. a good example is the fire in fairfield that drew crews from contra costa and sacramento. the system makes it possible for marin county to lend out six engines and 46 currents 160 staff and seasonal firefighters. >> is that a large bite to take out of your dep? >> that's as large a bite as we will allow. we will not allow more than that. we still need to be able to protect the county of marin, but at this point we are at the maximum amount of people that we will allow. >> reporter: if a major fire should break out on brown can roll out 80% of normal resources with the other 20% taking a little longer to arrive. that's not a bad response when it seems that half the state is on fire. >> the idea is not everyone is going to have that big fire on any given day, so when someone

is having that big fire, we got to help our neighbors out. so that day when we have the big fire, and we will have resources that are available. >> reporter: in marin county, john ramos. kpix 5. who is footing the bill? agencies who sent crews will be reimbursed by the state and federal government which will offset the costs for the crews covering for them back home. it is 4:18 let's check on the weather, it is early. >> very early this morning. you know, i've been here since midnight for me we're edge the middle of the day. >> sure you have. >> official weather site over there. >> around the bay area today low clouds observed on shore, thicker this morning. we're seeing more drizzle along the coastline. the cold front is sliding into far northern california, light showers in toward eureka today. we will see the fog and low clouds give way to sunshine this afternoon, except for the coastline a couple patches of fog. the temperatures are likely to be warmer. we have big changes expected as we head to the

holiday weekend. in between systems you have high pressure to the east of us, and the approach is closer, it will hold off for a couple days. it will be slightly warmer around here and around the state today, about 100 degrees and hot in fair grove, 90 in sacramento, 72 in monterey bay 90 and smoky in yosemite. around the bay, 70s and 80s in the south bay, 60s toward the coastline, 80s and low 90s inland. inside the bays, 60s and 70s, mostly sunny afternoon. the next couple days warming up a little bit threw friday, then we cool down, more clouds expected for the holiday weekend. well below average toward labor day. let's check on the roadways with elizabeth. this is the time to go, the big bay bridge closure happening right now. we are checking the alternates, there is no major hot spots. other freeways we're expecting extra traffic later in the morning commute, 101, which is jammed up past candlestick.

looks good approaching third. a lot of people are heading in order from the san mateo to 130. expect extra traffic if you're used to 101 at this time of the morning things usually look good. >> the san mateo bridge, the drive time is 14 minutes on the right side of your screen. commute direction, obviously looking good so far. heading out over the high rise, eastbound traffic quiet as well. similar drive times. golden gate bridge, electronic tolls, people are not used to the golden gate bridge, using it for the first time, go through the pay gates. no toll takers to collect your cash. drive times in the clear for the most part. no major delays if you're coming westbound 580 through the altamonte pass, and no delays yet through berkeley. we will be closely watching that commute even eastbound as people head toward the richmond bridge. and 24 hour service on bart, ferries ramping things up and ac transit will be using the normal buses

and rerouting those for the bart stations to help you get around. back to you. thank you. today u.n. secretary general moon is asking for time for an inspection team to complete its investigation of the alleged chemical weapons attack in syria. with more on this developing news, our reporter explains why the president may not be able to wait for the u.n. before he launches a strike against the syrian government. >> reporter: the obama administration is lining up support on capitol hill for a potential military strike against syria. white house officials will brief high ranking members of congress this afternoon. president obama says he has not yet decided whether or not to attack syria, but he is sure of one thing. >> we have concluded that the syrian government in fact carried this out and if that is so, there need to be international consequences. >> reporter: the pentagon is ready to go whenever the president makes that decision. a u.s. submarine and four war ships are in the eastern

mediterranean and all are armed with cruise missiles. russia and china walked out of a security meeting preventing a resolution authorizing military force. the united states says it does not need u.n. approval. >> we can not be held up in responding by russia's continued intransigence in the united nations. the uk little mare may be prevented from joining the u.s. on an attack in syria until after the unweapons inspectors make their report. >> we have ethics to make sure the british parliament is okay. >> the u.s. could move forward without uk support. in new york, kpix 5. the u.n. report will not be able to determine which side launched chemical weapons, they will only say whether or not toxic agents were deployed. >> 4:22 now. a military jury delivered a death sentence to the army

psychiatrist responsible for the 2009 fort hood shootings in texas. nidal hasan will die for killing 13 people, wounding 32 others during his rampage. it was the first mass murder in a military installation in u.s. history. hasan did not respond, he said it was motivated by muslim insurgents in iraq and afghanistan. president obama and former presidents clinton and carter celebrated the 50th anniversary of the march on washington. the civil rights protest which featured martin luther king's i have a dream speech was remembered as a turning point in american history yesterday. u.s. marshals arrested to two people they say took things too far between a soccer match in april. jennifer martez and a 21-year-old vargas are in a jail charged with disorderly conduct and harassment.

portland police say they joined fans and viciously attacked another fan in the parking lot. his windshield was smashed as you can see here and his car is a mess. police have identified the other suspects and say charges are pending. and police are searching for an armed robber who locked up a group of mcdonald's workers in their own freezer. he hit the restaurant in pleasanton at 3:00 yesterday morning. the robber reportedly broke in through the drive through window, demanded money from the safe. he took off after locking up the staff. fortunately nobody was hurt. 4:24 now, the super cruise system may be the next big deal for general motors. the high tech tools aimed at letting its new car drive by itself. >> it's the talk of silicon valley, a high profile bay area couple is calling it quits.

liz check out the forecast, we take you in to a beautiful place today, walnut creek, it will be sunny and warm, temperatures in the mid-80s. and you don't see this trickle box too often or triple shot, we have three bridges, bay bridge shut down, of course, 8:00 last night and the work now continues at the toll plaza and in the meantime san mateo bridge is a little busier than usual at this time of the morning but moving fine. and the golden gate bridge, nice flow from marin county into san francisco. closely watching your time saver traffic throughout the morning. happening today, american airlines will be in bankruptcy

court over its proposed reorganization plan. american is trying to merge with u.s. airways. that would make it the largest carrier in the world. the government has filed an anti trust lawsuit challenging the merger. and fortune magazine is coming out with its annual list of the world's fastest growing companies, last year it was apple and lulu lemon. and general motors is jumping on the self driving bandwagon. the automaker is working on a super cruise system. it uses radar and a camera to steer cars keeping them in the traffic lane and a safe distance of the cars ahead of them. gm hopes to have the cars out on the roads in six years. a bombshell in silicon valley. >> sources confirm to the mercury news google co-founder is calling it quits with his wife. they married just six years ago. they have a couple k kids. according to the tech blog all things, brin is rumored to be dating a google employee.

the big bay bridge shut down is happening. crews are working around the clock on the new eastern span. we'll show you how bay area commuters are getting around it all. >> and bart trains have been running all night long. coming up we will hear from an engineer who had to leave for work a couple hours early because he is going to work on the bay bridge coming up. ,,,,,,,,

>> your realtime captioner: linda marie macdonald you've been warned! ! a live look at the bay bridge toll plaza. the bridge is shut since 8:00 last night. the 5 day project to finish the new eastern span under way now and the political drama leading up to opening day. coming up. if you can't travel by bridge or bart, travel by sea. live from alameda we'll have an

update on the ferry over the next couple of days. >> clouds and patchy, dense fog and drizzle outside now but it should be a warmer day ahead. we'll talk about that coming up. >> and good morning, it's thursday, august 29. the day has arrived! i'm frank mallicoat. >> i'm michelle griego. time now is 4:30. the bay bridge is now closed. we have live team coverage of the big shutdown. bay area commuters are getting creative over the next five days. anne makovec is at the fremont bart station where we're expecting more people to leave their cars behind as they make their way across the bay. she is actually at pleasanton bart station. cate caugiran is standing by at the alameda ferry. roberta gonzales is out on the roads in mobile5 making her way from the east bay to san francisco. but first, we started with elizabeth wenger in the traffic center. >> we have coverage across the bay area. people are going to have to get creative. hopefully a lot of people will use mass transit. if you are hitting the road we are expecting more traffic at the golden gate bridge. and this is