Central Freeway

The US 101 "exit" off itself at Mission/South Van Ness; the freeway continues east to Fell/Oak.

[Image]

The bridge over Market Street.

Length: Around 1 mile
Routing in SF: From the San Francisco Skyway (I-80)/Bayshore (Lick) Freeway (US 101) interchange, east to Fell and Oak Streets (demolished portion to Turk/Golden Gate Avenues, unbuilt section to Lombard Street paralleling Van Ness)
Construction: 1959, to Turk/Golden Gate
Route Numbering: US 101 (portion west of Mission Street 1959-1989, portion east of Mission Street 1959-*)
I-80 (1951-1959)

* - Deceiving gantry signs at the 101/80 interchange suggest that US 101 is not on the Central anymore, but that is not the case.

The Central Freeway is one of the last vestiges of the 1959 and 1966 Freeway Revolts. Never completed to its full glory, it is little more than a spur off the I-80/US 101 interchange into the Panhandle; but it refuses to die despite community opposition to its continued existance and plans to reconstruct the remaining section west of where US 101 exits at Van Ness.

Originally constructed in 1959, the route was to have handled Peninsula-Marin traffic, as a feeder to the Golden Gate Bridge. However, bad luck intervened as that year, the Board of Supervisors canceled 7 of 10 proposed freeways in the City, and construction halted on the route at Turk and Golden Gate.

The 1989 earthquake essentially damaged the US 101 routing north of Fell/Oak, forcing US 101 to exit off itself at Mission Street/South Van Ness as it does today. West of that exit, the freeway no longer has a number; north of Fell/Oak, the route was demolished in 1996 (after having been closed for earthquake damage). The Fell/Oak ramps are currently being considered for demolition themselves, to be replaced by an extension of Octavia Street (see http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/octavia_blvd/).

But this extension plan may not be the end of the Central Freeway after all. In 1999, a reccomendation was made to the Board for several "tunnel" routes, including one approximating the old Central Freeway northern extension. To quote Cahighways.org:

There are some planned freeway routings in the city of San Francisco. California Transportation Commission (CTC) Agenda Item June 2000 2.3a discusses a route from PK (Post Kilometer) 7.6 at South Van Ness to PK R8.2 at Fell Street. July 2000 Agenda Item 2.3a discusses a route from PM R5.0 at Eire (sic) Street to PM 5.3 at Golden Gate Avenue.

Like any old soldier, this viaduct has refused to die, already dodging two demolition dates in 1996 and 2000, and probably will never find its grave - earning a new lease on life in the process.

UPDATE: The portion of freeway west of Mission Street has since been demolished (in 2003) to make way for the Octavia Boulevard project.

Sources: Octavia Boulevard Project (http://www.ci.sf.ca.us/octavia_blvd/), cahighways.org, Chris Carlsson's Freeway Revolt page (http://www.bikesummer.org/zine/freewayRevolt.htm), Microsoft Terraserver, Donald Hagstrom.

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