View source for Central Freeway

{{short description|Elevated freeway in San Francisco, California, United States}}
{{About|the freeway in San Francisco|the freeway in Seattle|Central Freeway (Seattle)|the freeway in Texas|Central Freeway (Texas)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox road
| state        = CA
| type         = US
| route        = 101
| name         = Central Freeway
| maint        = [[California Department of Transportation|Caltrans]]
| map          = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|frame-align=center|type=line|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Central Freeway}}}}
| map_custom   = yes
| map_notes    = Central Freeway highlighted in red
| length_mi    = 1.2
| length_round = 1
| length_ref   = <ref name=Google-dd>[[Google Maps]] [https://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=6714868554614515401,37.765940,-122.404910%3B12726028982684193479,37.771340,-122.422960&time=&date=&ttype=&saddr=Central+Fwy%2FUS-101+N+%4037.765940,+-122.404910&daddr=37.771877,-122.423379&mra=dme&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=17&sll=37.772199,-122.423208&sspn=0.005987,0.011265&ie=UTF8&z=17&om=0 driving directions], accessed November 2007</ref>
| established = 1959<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.sfgov.org/site/octavia_blvd_index.asp?id=236 |title=SFGov: Octavia Boulevard: History |access-date=2007-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929014528/http://www.sfgov.org/site/octavia_blvd_index.asp?id=236 |archive-date=2007-09-29 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| direction_a = South
| terminus_a  = {{jct|state=CA|I|80|US|101}}
| direction_b = North
| terminus_b  = [[Octavia Boulevard]]
| allocation = {{jct|state=CA|US|101}} from {{jct|state=CA|I|80|noshield=y}} to [[Mission Street]]
|county = San Francisco
}}

The '''Central Freeway''' is a roughly one-mile (1.5&nbsp;km) [[elevated freeway]] in [[San Francisco]], [[California]], [[United States]], connecting the [[Bayshore Freeway|Bayshore]]/[[James Lick Freeway]] ([[U.S. Route 101 in California|US 101]] and [[Interstate 80 in California|I-80]]) with the [[Hayes Valley]] neighborhood. Most of the freeway is part of US 101, which exits at [[Mission Street]] on the way to the [[Golden Gate Bridge]]. The freeway once extended north to Turk Street, and initially formed part of a loop around downtown (along with the [[Embarcadero Freeway]]), but was damaged along with the Embarcadero in the 1989 [[Loma Prieta earthquake]]; both highways have since been replaced with the surface-level [[Octavia Boulevard]] (north of Market Street) and [[Embarcadero (San Francisco)|Embarcadero]], respectively.

==Route description==
The Central Freeway begins at a [[directional "Y" interchange]] at the west end of [[Interstate 80 in California|Interstate 80]] in the [[South of Market]] neighborhood, and travels west above Division Street and 13th Street. This interchange also includes access between the [[Bayshore Freeway]], which carries US 101 to the south, and the [[one-way pair]] of 9th and 10th Streets. As it approaches the end, US 101 exits onto [[Mission Street]] to access [[Van Ness Avenue]], which it follows north to [[Lombard Street (San Francisco)|Lombard Street]] and the [[Golden Gate Bridge]]. The remainder of the freeway is signed as exit 434B from US 101, and comes to the surface at [[Market Street (San Francisco)|Market Street]] and [[Octavia Boulevard]], the latter continuing north to Oak and Fell Streets, a one-way pair west to [[Golden Gate Park]].<ref name=Google>[[Google Maps]] street map and satellite imagery, accessed November 2007</ref> No traffic from Market Street is allowed to turn onto the freeway, but traffic from the freeway may turn right onto Market. The first opportunity for traffic that instead continues onto the boulevard to leave it is east on Page Street.<ref>[[Google Maps]] street view, accessed November 2007</ref>

Before the Loma Prieta earthquake, the freeway continued beyond Fell Street and then curved northeast, with the northbound side ending at a ramp to Golden Gate Avenue and Franklin Street, and the southbound level touching down to the northwest at Turk and Gough Streets.<ref name="map1965">{{cite map|url=http://www.cahighways.org/maps/1965sfplans.jpg|publisher=California Division of Highways|year=1965|title=Plans for the San Francisco Bay Area's Freeways}}</ref> Until 2007, this land remained mainly undeveloped, filled primarily by [[parking lot]]s.<ref name=Google/> However, the parcels were sold off to developers in the 2010s and as of 2020, most of it has been converted into a mix of affordable and market-rate housing.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://hoodline.com/2015/10/central-freeway-octavia-boulevard-patricias-green |title=Everyone Gets a Lot: The Creation of Octavia Boulevard and Patricia's Green |website=hoodline.com |date= 4 October 2015|access-date=3 April 2020}}</ref>

==History==
===Plans and original freeway===
[[File:1948 San Francisco trafficways plan.jpg|thumb|Map from the 1948 Transportation Plan for San Francisco (downtown at the bottom)]]
The 1948 Transportation Plan for San Francisco, prepared by De Leuw, Cather and Company, included the Central Freeway. This [[elevated roadway]] would begin at the [[Bayshore Freeway]]&nbsp;– the approach to the [[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge]]&nbsp;– near Division Street and head west and north around the periphery of [[downtown San Francisco]]. This portion would include junctions with the Mission Freeway (south and southwest along [[Mission Street]] to [[Daly City, California|Daly City]]) at the southwest corner and the Panhandle Freeway (west through the [[Panhandle (San Francisco)|Panhandle]] into [[Golden Gate Park]]) along the west side. After swinging northeast and back north to the east side of [[Van Ness Avenue]] (continuing as a double-decked structure between Van  Ness Ave. and [[Polk Street]]), a pair of ramps would split to the east, taking downtown traffic to and from the [[one-way pair]] of Bush and Pine Streets. At Clay Street, the freeway would descend to meet the rising terrain, ending at [[Broadway (San Francisco)|Broadway]] just east of Van Ness Avenue as a single level [[depressed roadway]]. A short [[tunnel]] would curve northwest to a portal in Van Ness Avenue north of Broadway, taking traffic onto Van Ness Avenue towards the [[Golden Gate Bridge]]. Along with the [[Embarcadero (San Francisco)|Embarcadero]] and [[Broadway Tunnel (San Francisco)|Broadway Tunnel]], which were listed for rebuilding as ground-level [[Limited-access road|expressways]] rather than the freeway ([[Embarcadero Freeway]]) that was later partially built and demolished, the Central Freeway would have provided a full traffic distributor loop around downtown.<ref>{{cite book | author=De Leuw, Cather and Company | title=A Report to the City Planning Commission on a Transportation Plan for San Francisco | year=1948 | oclc=7431642}}</ref>

[[File:Central Freeway map.png|thumb|Map of the Central Freeway (red and purple)]]

The route was also included in the 1955 city master plan, by then extending north beyond the former Broadway terminus to the proposed [[Golden Gate Freeway]] near [[Lombard Street (San Francisco)|Lombard Street]].<ref>Transportation Section of the Master Plan of the City and County of San Francisco, 1955, OCLC 51930208 ([http://www.cahighways.org/maps-sf-fwy.html map with route numbers added])</ref> The first piece, connecting the [[Bayshore Freeway]] with [[Mission Street]], opened March 1, 1955,<ref>California Highway and Public Works, March–April, 1955</ref> at about the same time as the Bayshore. The part of the Central Freeway to the [[one-way pair]] of Golden Gate Avenue and Turk Street opened in April 1959,<ref name=success>John King, [[San Francisco Chronicle]], [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/01/03/BAG4VNBUJM1.DTL An urban success story: Octavia Boulevard an asset to post-Central Freeway area], January 3, 2007</ref><ref>California Highways and Public Works, March–April, 1960</ref> and became part of [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. Route 101]] (and [[Legislative Route 2 (California pre-1964)|Legislative Route 2]]) via this one-way pair to the old route on Van Ness Avenue.<ref>[[California Highway Transportation Agency]], [http://www.cahighways.org/maps/1963sf.jpg map of San Francisco], 1963</ref> In January of that year, as one of the opening events in the [[freeway revolts]], the [[San Francisco Board of Supervisors]] passed Resolution 45-59, removing the remainder of the Central Freeway and most other proposed freeways from the city's highway plan.<ref>Tillo E. Kuhn, Public Enterprise Economics and Transport Problems, [[University of California Press]], 1962, p. 200</ref> [[Interstate 80 in California|Interstate 80]], which had been assigned to the Central Freeway southeast of the proposed Panhandle Freeway, was truncated by the [[Federal Highway Administration]] in August 1965 and by the state in 1968.{{Citation needed|date=November 2007}}

There was a plan promulgated in February 1962 to relieve traffic congestion on the [[Golden Gate Bridge]] by constructing a "San Francisco-Tiburon Bridge" from Van Ness Ave. at [[Aquatic Park Historic District|Aquatic Park]] in San Francisco north across the [[Golden Gate Strait]] to [[Tiburon, California|Tiburon]] to connect with the [[U.S. Route 101 in California#San Francisco Bay Area|Redwood Highway]], which would have been anchored on [[Angel Island (California)|Angel Island]].  Had this bridge actually been constructed, it would have probably been eventually necessary to construct the proposed northern section of the Central Freeway from Turk Street north to Aquatic Park in order to adequately funnel traffic to it.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061108162631/http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_events/bridge/up012.html Proposed Tiburon Bridge:]</ref>

[[File:Octavia-Blvd-San-Francisco-rr.png|thumb|left]]

===Truncation===
In 1989, the [[Loma Prieta earthquake]] damaged the northern part of the elevated roadway, and in 1992 [[Caltrans]] removed the freeway north of Fell Street and rerouted U.S. 101 to exit at Mission Street and onto the portion of Van Ness Avenue between the Central Freeway and Turk Street/Golden Gate Avenue. That year the Board of Supervisors banned any new freeway construction north of [[Market Street (San Francisco)|Market Street]]; a city task force recommended its replacement with a surface [[boulevard]] in 1995. Caltrans closed the double-deck freeway north of Mission Street for rebuilding in late 1996.<!-- yes they did -->

A fight began between the primarily [[Chinese American]] residents of western San Francisco (the [[Richmond District, San Francisco, California|Richmond District]] and the [[Sunset District, San Francisco, California|Sunset District]]), who favored the Caltrans plan to rebuild it because it provided easy access for prospective customers to get to their businesses in the Richmond and Sunset districts, and the primarily [[White people|White]] and [[Black people|Black]] Hayes Valley local residents, who regarded the freeway as urban blight, and were supported by Mayor [[Willie Brown (politician)|Willie Brown]].  Caltrans reopened the northbound (lower) deck to Fell Street in 1997, but did not put a route designation on that deck; several initiatives were passed to remove the lower deck. The final compromise took a two-way freeway down to ground level at Market Street, where [[Octavia Boulevard]]&nbsp;– a widened Octavia Street on the former freeway right-of-way&nbsp;— would continue to Fell Street.<ref>Preservation Institute, [http://www.preservenet.com/freeways/FreewaysCentral.html San Francisco, CA: Central Freeway], accessed November 2007</ref><!--how reliable is this source?--> The completed project opened on September 9, 2005.<ref name=success/><ref>{{cite news|first=Rachel|last=Gordon|title=Boulevard of dreams, the premiere: Hayes Valley freed of freeway -- city ready to celebrate|url=http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/09/08/BAGBFEJVE21.DTL| work=The San Francisco Chronicle |date=September 8, 2005|accessdate=26 April 2013}}</ref> Unfortunately, this compromise design has resulted in creating one of the most dangerous intersections in the city.<ref>{{cite news|first=Danielle|last=Echeverria|title=S.F.’s most dangerous intersections are concentrated in one part of the city|url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/most-dangerous-intersections-data-18665443.php| work=The San Francisco Chronicle |date=March 4, 2024|accessdate=4 March 2024}}</ref> Furthermore, the [[South of Market]] neighborhood actually got a wider freeway, closer to ground level, in the space where the double-decked road had been.<ref>{{cite news |first=Carol|last=Lloyd|title=Central Freeway plan creates new Oz but leaves South of Market neighbors stuck in Kansas |url=http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/Central-Freeway-plan-creates-new-Oz-but-leaves-3302518.php|work=The San Francisco Chronicle |date=July 1, 2003 |accessdate=26 April 2013}}</ref> The newer section of the Central Freeway between Mission Street and Market Street still remains unsigned, but is maintained by Caltrans.

Between early 2010 and 2013, when it was partially redeveloped for housing, a 2.2-acre site between Laguna, Oak, Fell, and Octavia Streets in Hayes Valley that had been ramps for the elevated freeway was temporarily converted into '''Hayes Valley Farm'''. With a grant from the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development, raised beds using cardboard as mulch were constructed on the road bed and potted fruit trees and bee hives added.<ref>{{cite web |first=Matthew |last=Roth |url=https://sf.streetsblog.org/2010/02/08/building-a-farm-where-a-freeway-used-to-be/ |title=Building a Farm Where a Freeway Used to Be |website=StreetsBlog SF |date=February 8, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=King |title=Vandals ruin bee colonies at Hayes Valley Farm |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=July 23, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Vivian |last=Ho |url=https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/2-detained-at-Hayes-Valley-Farm-protest-4602040.php |title=2 detained at Hayes Valley Farm protest |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=June 14, 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://hayesvalleyfarm.tumblr.com:80/ |title=The Legacy of Hayes Valley Farm |date=February 15, 2016 |website=Hayes Valley Farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311133531/http://hayesvalleyfarm.tumblr.com/ |archivedate=2018-03-11 |access-date=2018-11-22 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{unreliable source?|date=December 2022}}

In 2022, State Senator [[Scott Wiener]] submitted a letter to a Caltrans district director requesting a study to investigate demolition of the Central Freeway and other nearby elevated freeways.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jung |first=Yoohyun |date=December 3, 2022 |title=Sen. Scott Wiener's dramatic idea for San Francisco: Tear down the Central Freeway |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Sen-Scott-Wiener-s-dramatic-idea-for-San-17629949.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |accessdate=December 6, 2022}}</ref>

==Exit list==
{{Mileposts|date=June 2016}}
{{CAinttop|exit|indep_city=San Francisco|post_ref=<br /><ref name=trucklist /><ref name=bridgelog>{{Caltrans bridgelog|date=July 2007}}</ref><ref>[[California Department of Transportation]], [http://traffic-counts.dot.ca.gov/ All Traffic Volumes on CSHS], 2005 and 2006</ref>
}}
{{CAint|exit
|postmile=R4.24
|exit=
|road={{jct|state=CA|US|101|name1=[[James Lick Freeway]]|dir1=south|city1=San Jose}}
|notes=Continuation beyond I-80
}}
{{CAint|exit
|postmile=R4.24
|exit=433B
|road={{jct|state=CA|I|80|dir1=east|location1=[[San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge|Bay Bridge]]|city2=Oakland}}
|notes=Signed as exit 433 southbound; I-80 exit 1B
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=incomplete
|postmile=R4.58
|exit=433C
|road=Ninth Street&nbsp;– [[Civic Center (San Francisco)|Civic Center]]
|notes=Northbound exit and southbound entrance
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=incomplete
|postmile=none
|exit=
|road={{jct|state=CA|US|101|dir1=north|location1=[[Golden Gate Bridge]]|road|[[Mission Street]]}}
|notes=Northbound exit and southbound entrance
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=incomplete
|postmile=R5.20
|exit=434A
|road=Duboce Avenue
|notes=Northbound exit and southbound entrance
}}
{{CAint|exit
|postmile=none
|exit=
|road=[[Market Street (San Francisco)|Market Street]]
|notes=[[At-grade intersection]]; only right turns onto Market Street are allowed
}}
{{CAint|exit
|postmile=R5.40
|exit=434B
|road=[[Octavia Boulevard]] to Fell Street
|notes=Continuation beyond Market Street
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=closed
|postmile=none
|exit=
|road=Oak Street
|notes=Southbound entrance only (Closed in 1996)
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=closed
|postmile=none
|exit=
|road=Fell Street, Laguna Street
|notes=Northbound exit only (Closed in 2003)
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=closed
|postmile=none
|exit=
|road=Golden Gate Avenue, Franklin Street
|notes=Northbound exit only (Closed in 1989)
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=closed
|postmile=none
|exit=
|road=Gough Street, Turk Street
|notes=Southbound entrance only (Closed in 1989)
}}
{{Jctbtm|keys=closed,incomplete}}

==See also==
*{{portal-inline|California Roads}}
*{{portal-inline|San Francisco Bay Area}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}
{{CASR external links|US|101}}
*[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/10/20/MNCITY4_TIMELINE.DTL&hw=central+freeway&sn=006&sc=768 Timeline: A look back at Octavia St. and the Central Freeway]
*[http://www.cahighways.org/097-104.html#101 California Highways: US 101]
*[http://www.cahighways.org/maps-sf-fwy.html California Highways (www.cahighways.org) San Francisco-Bay Area Freeway Development (Part 1—The City of San Francisco)]
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/3890405358/in/set-72157622139053795/ Plans from 1948 for the extension of the Central Freeway north to Broadway]
*[https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/4047619338/in/set-72157622139053795/ Map from 1957 of the connection of the proposed San Francisco-Tiburon Crossing to the Central Freeway]

[[Category:Cancelled highway projects in the United States]]
[[Category:Demolished highways in the United States]]
[[Category:Roads in San Francisco]]
[[Category:San Francisco Bay Area freeways]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 101]]
[[Category:Named freeways in California]]