Embarcadero
Freeway
Embarcadero
Freeway
Length: 1 mile (built portion), 4 miles (entire routing)
Routing in SF: From the San Francisco Skyway (I-80) at 1st Street northwest
to Broadway via the Embarcadero.
Construction: 1959-1965
Route Numbering: I-480* (1951-1965), CA 480* (1966-1990)
* - This route numbering also extended to Lombard Street (including the famous "Crookedest Street" portion), the Golden Gate Bridge Freeway (US 101), and is unconfirmed for the Park Presidio Freeway (CA 1).
Considered a blight to the community, blocking the views of the Bay from groundlevel near the Embarcadero, the 480 served as a reminder of the worst of the Freeway Revolt from the time construction stopped in 1966, to the end of its existance in 1990.
Proposed around 1951, this route was to have served Marin County commuters heading into Downtown; this portion of 480 would connect with 101 near the current Van Ness/Lombard intersection, head east to I-80, and end there. Construction on this route began in 1959, as the height of the Freeway Revolt began.
By 1966, opposition to the Embarcadero grew, and although marked as "proposed" on a 1967 Rand McNally atlas, construction stopped at Broadway, which the route would be signed for until its demise. Plans for its demolition were unveiled as early as 1973, and were finally approved in 1985, though no action was immediately taken.
Contrary to popular belief, there was very little earthquake damage to the Freeway in 1989; but because of the public opposition to its existance, this was used as a convenient excuse to finally demolish the routing in 1990. The remaining ramps of 480 are used as the Fremont Street exit off the San Francisco Skyway, and as buslanes for the Transbay Terminal.
In 1998, there was a proposal to build a tunneled routing for 480 to approximate the constructed portion of the Embarcadero Freeway, but there hasn't been much word on it since.
Sources: cahighways.org, personal experience, kurumi.com.
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