# Oakland Bay Bridge - What the....? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2007, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126 "2007-09-13T23:31:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126/21 "2007-09-14T17:37:16Z")
[QUOTE=Randy Seltzer] Actually, if you’re easily confused, like me, you’ll eventurally be forced to figure out that the Bay Bridge is actually two of SIX bridges crossing the bay: 1. Richmond-San Rafael Bridge 2. Golden Gate 3. Oakland-Yerba Buena 4. Yerba Buena-San Fransisco 5. San Mateo-Hayward Bridge 6. Dumbarton Bridge (3 and 4 together are the Bay Bridge) [/QUOTE] There’s eight. Eveyone always forgets the Antioch bridge. ignoring pairings of bridges, we’ve got, working roughly north to south: Antioch Carquinez Benica-Martinez Richmond Golden Gate Bay San Mateo Dumbarton ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126/22 "2007-09-14T19:16:26Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] We’ve covered the Bay Bridge issue okay, but this post interested me, because I’ve never heard the bridge I know you’re talking about called the San Rafael Bridge - it’s always been the _Richmond_ Bridge. (Or, maybe in official sources, the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.) Or is that a North Bay thing? [/QUOTE] To beat a dead bridge, the KCBS traffic reports aways call it the Bay Bridge, as in “The Bay Bridge is backed up into the Maze.” On the other hand, I’ve always heard the other bridge called the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, but the San Mateo bridge is never the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. Me, I take 237 and avoid the tolls. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126/23 "2007-09-14T19:49:03Z")
[QUOTE=gotpasswords] There’s eight. Eveyone always forgets the Antioch bridge. [/QUOTE] Yeah, but who wants to go to Antioch? 😛 Seriously though, that’s pretty much past the Bay and into the Delta. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126/24 "2007-09-14T20:12:24Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] On the other hand, I’ve always heard the other bridge called the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, but the San Mateo bridge is never the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge. [/QUOTE] During the years I worked in San Rafael but lived in Berkeley, I learned that the north bay bridge has two names, always referring to your destination. Folks in Marin call it the Richmond Bridge, and folks in the East Bay call it the San Rafael Bridge. As Voyager points out, the same does not hold for the mid-southerly bay bridge. It’s always the San Mateo Bridge, whichever side you start out on. And although the official moniker “San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge” is still seen and heard from time to time, as has been firmly attested to in real life it’s the Bay Bridge. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126/25 "2007-09-20T18:55:58Z")
[QUOTE=sturmhauke] Yeah, but who wants to go to Antioch? 😛 Seriously though, that’s pretty much past the Bay and into the Delta. [/QUOTE] Perhaps, but Caltrans says it’s in the Bay. It’s their bridge, so I gotta go by their decision. As for going to Antioch? Ugh, I have no idea. What amazed me is to find that Antioch actually has hotels. A friend is getting married this weekend, and their father is flying in from somewhere East. The flight is coming into Oakland, and Travelocity booked them into what must be the cheapest hotel in the whole Bay Area, and amazingly, it’s in Antioch. ---
**Author:** ![Myself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8491ac/32.png) [@Myself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myself)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126/26 "2007-09-20T19:46:14Z")
> [@](#): > > As Voyager points out, the same does not hold for the mid-southerly bay bridge. It’s always the San Mateo Bridge, whichever side you start out on. As a resident of the town next to Hayward, on-and-off for much of my 50+ years, Hayward is a place few of us care to promote. Not only is there “no there, there,” but there is little reason to put any there there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oakland-bay-bridge-what-the/419126.md?page=1)