S.F. Supervisors Move to Demolish ‘Eyesore’ Freeway
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SAN FRANCISCO — Politicians here have for 20 years won hearts--and votes--by pledging to demolish an ugly, unfinished stump of the elevated, double-deck Embarcadero Freeway along the city’s waterfront.
On Monday, the Board of Supervisors voted 8 to 2 to proceed with preliminary engineering on a project that would exchange the freeway for a tree-lined boulevard and better mass transit.
The freeway was intended to link the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge with the Golden Gate Bridge. But public opposition halted construction in the early 1960s after only a mile was built.
Nearby Interstate 280 also was stopped, leaving a half-mile stub that still is unused today.
For years, the freeways--especially the Embarcadero--were seen as useless eyesores that went nowhere and blocked views. As the waterfront was rebuilt as posh offices and homes, pressure grew to remove the freeways.
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