California State Route 480

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State Route 480
California State Highway Routes
< Route 466		Route 505 >
Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

Section of the Embarcadero Freeway in front of the Ferry Building during demolition

State Route 480 was a state highway in San Francisco, California, United States, consisting of the elevated double-decker Embarcadero Freeway, the partly-elevated Doyle Drive approach to the Golden Gate Bridge, and an unbuilt section in between. The Embarcadero Freeway was torn down after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and Doyle Drive is now part of U.S. Route 101. SR 480 was Interstate 480, an auxiliary route of the Interstate Highway System, from 1955 to 1968.

[edit] History

Legislative Route 224 was defined in 1947 to connect U.S. Route 101 (pre-1964 Legislative Route 2) at the intersection of Lombard Street and Van Ness Avenue with U.S. Route 40 and U.S. Route 50 (pre-1964 Legislative Route 68) at the west end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (near the Transbay Terminal).^[1] Its alignment was roughly along Lombard Street and the Embarcadero.^[2]

1955 map of the planned Interstates in the San Francisco Bay Area. I-480 would have run along the north side of the city, while I-280 would run south along the peninsula. I-80 was to have run past the east end of I-480 to end at I-280.

Legislative Route 224, as well as Route 2 (US 101) from Route 224 west to the junction with State Route 1 near the Golden Gate Bridge, was added to the Interstate Highway System on September 15, 1955. This included the 1936 Doyle Drive, an early freeway built to access the Golden Gate Bridge.^[3] After some discussion, the number Interstate 480 was assigned on November 10, 1958. (Interstate 280, as originally planned, ran south from the west end of I-480 along SR 1, through the MacArthur Tunnel and Golden Gate Park, to join its present alignment in Daly City.)^[4]

Map of the Embarcadero Freeway (purple)

The first section of the Embarcadero Freeway, from the Bay Bridge approach (Interstate 80) north to Broadway, opened in 1959.^[5] As a consequence of the freeway revolt, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed Resolution 45-59 in January 1959, opposing certain freeways including the remainder of I-480.^[6]

In the 1964 renumbering, Route 480 was designated for the full route of I-480, including the US 101 concurrency. The route was deleted from the Interstate Highway System in January 1968, with Interstate 280 being rerouted north of Daly City at the same time. The short piece of former I-480 from the junction with new I-280 (previously State Route 87) south to the Bay Bridge approach became part of I-280 (to allow I-280 to meet I-80).^[4] These changes were made to the state highway system in 1968; Route 480 was only truncated slightly, with the 5.47 miles^[7] (8.80 km) from I-280 to SR 1 remaining, though downgraded to State Route 480.^[6]

The Board of Supervisors voted on November 5, 1985 to tear down the Embarcadero Freeway.^[5] The proposal was put to the voters in 1987, and soundly defeated. The October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the structure, and Caltrans planned to retrofit and retain the two-decker freeway. Many accounts since then have suggested that the earthquake resulted in the demolition of the freeway, but the record shows that the city convulsed over the issue, with many supporting a rebuild. Then Mayor Art Agnos proposed instead demolishing the freeway in favor of a boulevard with an underpass at the Ferry Building to allow for a large plaza. Opposition to demolishing the freeway mounted again, with over 20,000 signatures gathered to again create a ballot measure. The strongest opposition came from Chinatown and the city's downtown. Agnos continued to negotiate with federal and state officials to win enough funding to make the demolition practical, and the opposition quieted. Demolition began on February 27, 1991.^[8] That year Agnos was defeated for re-election as Chinatown switched its support away from him. On June 16, 2006, the Port of San Francisco unveiled a monument to Mayor Agnos honoring his vision and courage, noting "This pedestrian pier commemorates the achievement of Mayor Agnos in leaving our city better and stronger than he found it." Legislative changes that year deleted Route 480 from the state highway system; the northwest section was transferred to U.S. Route 101.^[6] The only piece of the Embarcadero Freeway to remain was the beginning of the ramp from the Bay Bridge to Fremont Street, including a short ramp stub that formerly carried traffic to the freeway (Interstate 280 there after 1968). This part was re-built as a part of the Bay Bridge retrofit project. (I-280 was never finished to that interchange, though its legislative definition still takes it there.^[9])

[edit] Trivia

• The freeway was featured in a few films, including Magnum Force, Freebie and the Bean, Bullitt and Koyaanisqatsi.

[edit] References

1. ^ California Highways: Chronology of California Highways 1947-1962
2. ^ 1963 San Francisco inset map
3. ^ South Access to the Golden Gate Bridge - Doyle Drive
4. ^ ^a b California Highways: Interstate Highway Types and the History of California's Interstates
5. ^ ^a b kurumi: I-480 (cancelled) California
6. ^ ^a b c California Highways: Former State Route 480
7. ^ January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
8. ^ FHWA By Day - February 27
9. ^ California Highways: Interstate 280

[edit] External links

• San Francisco Chronicle photo of the freeway from 1987

	edit Auxiliary routes of Interstate 80
I-180	Illinois - Nebraska - Pennsylvania - Wyoming
I-280	California - Illinois/Iowa - New Jersey - Ohio
I-380	California - Iowa - Pennsylvania
I-480	Iowa/Nebraska - Ohio
I-580	California - Nevada
I-680	California - Iowa/Nebraska - Ohio
I-780	California
I-880	California
I-980	California
past/ future	I-180: California - Pennsylvania - I-280: Iowa/Nebraska - Pennsylvania - I-480: California - Pennsylvania - I-580: Nebraska - I-680: Pennsylvania