California State Route 480 - Demise

Demise

In the 1980s, opposition to the Embarcadero freeway resurfaced in proposals to tear down the freeway. On November 5, 1985, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to tear down the Embarcadero Freeway. The proposal was put to the voters in 1987, and soundly defeated. The October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake significantly damaged the structure, causing it to be closed to traffic. CalTrans planned to retrofit and retain the double-decker freeway. Various groups in and outside the City supported the CalTrans plan, but there was a significant opinion within the City in favor of removing the freeway structure. Then Mayor Art Agnos proposed 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 other neighborhoods North of downtown. Merchants in Chinatown had suffered a dramatic decline in business in the months immediately following the earthquake and feared that if the freeway was not reopened they would not recover. 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. That year Agnos was defeated for re-election as Chinatown switched its support away from him. Meanwhile, the state legislature deleted SR 480 from the state's Streets and Highway Code.

On June 16, 2006, the Port of San Francisco unveiled a monument to Mayor Agnos honoring his vision and courage, noting:

Legislative changes that year deleted Route 480 from the state highway system; the northwest section was transferred to U.S. Route 101. 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 after 1968). This part was rebuilt 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.)

Prior to the earthquake, the Embarcadero Freeway carried approximately 70,000 vehicles daily in the vicinity of the Ferry Building. Another 40,000 vehicles/day used associated ramps at Main and Beale Sts.

In 2003, Caltrans began work on a retrofitting project to replace the western approach to the Bay Bridge. This retrofitting is part of a larger, $6 billion project to upgrade the aging Bay Bridge to modern earthquake standards, which includes replacing the entire eastern span. The entire project is scheduled to be complete in 2013, and the west approach was completed in 2009. In late 2005, Caltrans began the demolition of the original west approach after traffic was routed onto a temporary bypass structure. As a result of this retrofitting project, all old parts of the approach have been replaced, removing the final remains of the Embarcadero Freeway.