Why is this freeway interchange so crucial for Bay Area commuters?

NPR: Collapsed Freeway Snarls Bay Area Commute

The suspect, identified only as a man in his 20s, executed at least one of his victims during one of the carjackings and fired at a number of vehicles in the Tustin area near the Costa Mesa Freeway and I-5, authorities said.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

We traced our path, following the meandering freeway through South San Francisco and into the downtown area.

FORBES: San Francisco: Up Close And Personal

The fastest road near an urban area is California Route 73, a six-lane freeway in Orange County that connects Santa Ana and San Juan Capistrano through the San Joaquin Hills.

FORBES

The school is located in a mixed industrial-retail area near a Wal-Mart and a Toyota dealership and across a freeway from the O.co Coliseum, the home of the Oakland Raiders football team and A's baseball club that used to be known as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

WSJ: Seven Killed in Shooting at California Religious School

I-69, the proposed Montreal-Mexico City freeway, through the Valley, a case strengthened by the fact that the region remains the largest urban area in the United States without an interstate highway.

ECONOMIST: One river, one country