Benicia commute.. (Oakland, Alameda: to rent, high school, oil refinery)

[myverm02]

My husband is considering a new position in the Rockridge area, we are currently in Michigan. We like Benicia but are wondering what a realistic commute time is from Benicia to Rockridge during peak hours. We do still have one teenager in high school so Rockridge is not an option as it appears to be Oakland schools.

[Ruth4Truth]

Benicia is, indeed, nice. It's a longish commute over the Carquinez bridge to Oakland, Rockridge, though. But there are commute routes around the Bay that are much worse. I think Benicia to Oakland is actually one of the more functional (i.e. less trafficky) ones. I couldn't tell you exactly, the time it takes, though. Benicia would be a great choice if you could make the commute work, though. Except there's an oil refinery on the edge of town now. Some people report there's an issue with fumes from there.

[sonarrat]

Google tells me the best route is 680 over the Benicia Bridge, then 24 through the Caldecott Tunnel. The alternate is to backtrack to I-80 and use the Carquinez Bridge. I'm pretty sure that either one would make you crazy, not because of the bridges but because of the gridlock as soon as you hit the Contra Costa county line. The main difference is that the 680 route is easy outside normal commute hours, whereas I-80 is pretty much a nightmare at all times.

[myverm02]

Thank you, we are hoping to keep commute under 45 minutes. Maybe he can have some wiggle room on his office hours. Our other choice would be Alameda which appears to be a much shorter commute; however not much available to rent.

[Ruth4Truth]

I wouldn't recommend the Caldecott Tunnel during commute hours.

OP, would you be able to make a reconnaissance trip to the area, rent a car, and test-drive the commute yourselves? You could try the two different routes.