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 San Francisco waterfront and Embarcadero Freeway in 1969. Jeffrey Heller photo. |
In 1947, the federal
agency Bureau of Public Roads (BPR) and the National Interregional Highway
Committee promoted an initiative for a 40,000 mile network of highways in
the U.S. The plan included the freeway scheme for San Francisco seen here.
It would have had Golden Gate Park flanked by freeways, with the panhandle
completely removed. Battles over the freeway plan were long and ugly, not
just in San Francisco but in other parts of the country as well. San Franciscans
ferociously opposed the plan and on January 23, 1959, the Freeway
Revolt culminated in a resolution by the Board of Supervisors to remove
a half dozen freeways from the City's master plan. As a result, construction
of the Embarcadero Freeway, which already defaced the waterfront from Folsom
Street to Broadway, was halted. The move cost the City tens of millions
of dollars in state and federal financing, but saved precious lands and
priceless natural beauty in San Francisco. The freeway revolt helped generate
public support for BART and bolstered the objective of reducing dependency
on freeways and bridges of the Bay Area. The Freeway Revolt lived on in
the form of ballot initiatives and counter initiatives aimed at reversing
the tide of freeway encroachment on San Francisco. In 1989, an earthquake
helped move things along by knocking out the Embarcadero Freeway and parts
of the Central Freeway. A lot of people are enthusiastic about freeways
so there is plenty of research available on the Internet. Try to find something
nice that's written about the Embarcadero Freeway! Detail
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Copyright 2001 Hank Donat |