Governor Schwarzenegger says he wants to see the collapsed portion of a San Francisco Bay area highway repaired as quickly as possible. Late Sunday night, he toured the destruction caused by a tanker crash and fire in an area known as the "maze." It's a series of ramps and interchanges near Oakland. Schwarzenegger says it was quite an experience.
Schwarzenegger : I went around today and I literally touched -- Mayor Newsom and I -- we were standing right there and we felt the concrete -- I mean, it's amazing when you think about that it melted -- that the steel melted -- that the bridge came down. That's how intense the fire was.
Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Sunday. He said that would streamline contracting and environmental codes and get the work started sooner. He also authorized free public transit today in the Bay area.
The fire was sparked when a tanker truck carrying gasoline overturned. The flames caused part of an overpass to collapse onto another overpass. State transportation officials say roughly 80,000 thousand drivers use the area daily.
