Original CA 1 alignment in San Francisco

[Max Rockatansky]

Taken from Gribblenation's Facebook page where I snipped photos:

Something that came to mind today was a thought about how California State Route 1 was aligned through San Francisco before the Golden Gate Bridge opened?  California State Route 1 and the original Sign State Routes were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.  In the case of California State Route 1 it's announced route had it aligned through San Francisco.  It turns out a 1936 Shell Highway Map shows how California State Route 1 headed northbound through San Francisco to  the Hyde Street Pier:

-  CA 1 entered San Francisco on the 19th Avenue Extension.
-  CA 1 stayed on 19th Avenue northward to Golden Gate Park at Lincoln Way.
-  CA 1 traversed Golden Gate Park via Transverse Drive and a no longer existing roadway to Fulton Street where the planned Presidio Boulevard was being constructed.
-  CA 1 swung eastward via Fulton Street to Franklin Street.
-  CA 1 took a jog via Franklin Street and McAllister Street to US Route 101 at Van Ness Avenue. 
-  CA 1 followed a multiplex of US Route 101 via; Van Ness Avenue, Bay Street and Hyde Street to the Hyde Street Pier.

Of note; there is a different bypass route for CA 1 shown planned for Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park than what was ultimately constructed.  The present bypass is aligned west of Stow Lake whereas as the original seemingly was planned to go east instead.

The full 1936 Bay Area Shell Insert Map can be viewed on this page:

http://teczno.com/old-oakland/?fbclid=IwAR3yfmcff1OUkcZmdaJsT5oR7fMtcxMwn1vI1iNoXZMnOLQJJdtkNoiX1Vo

FWIW the bypass around Stow Lake was constructed in the early 1940s.

[TheStranger]

Just saw the Gribblenation post on FB of this, that seems to have the correct maps up (as opposed to the link above) -

https://www.facebook.com/gribblenation/posts/10157791269628021?__cft__

• =AZV8xApEbTYhiGt86d9lJo9gaKfTu0y38-P_ER4UbNp9DLDRR0NRQE8a_f3NjvC-xzbduCDjHxSg0AKLv1Sm4x4aqS4QB2evk7VqaP4JVVUcZAFbGkPGeT4517QEr2x4kif67O9xCQpqPTU1JSh8qbse&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R
  
  Notable data from the image:
  
  - Temporary routing of 1934-1964 Route 5 in SF!  Currently, Skyline Boulevard between Great Highway and Sloat Boulevard carries Route 35, but this map shows Route 5 following Great Highway to Sloat, and then Sloat east towards today's Sloat/Skyline junction.
  
  - Interesting to see the portion of Van Ness north of Lombard as part of not only 101, but 1 (back when both went to Hyde Street Pier).
  
  - The modern Crossover Drive and Park Presidio Bypass in Golden Gate Park still incorporates a connection to 25th Avenue, similar to what is seen in this map.

[Max Rockatansky]

^^^

The map link is weird, I don't think they even knew they captured San Francisco on their 1936 edition for Oakland.

Regarding Great Highway that sure has some added significance (not that it needed it) now that has been revealed as part of Old CA 5.


Some relevant articles from the CHPW regarding CA 1 being realigned to the current alignment to the Golden Gate Bridge:

-  June 1939; construction progress north of Lake Street (Funston Avenue approach) through the Presidio:

https://archive.org/details/california193940highwacalirich/page/n173/mode/2up?q=Golden+Gate

-  March 1940; progress on the Funston Avenue approach nears completion:

https://archive.org/details/california193940highwacalirich/page/n479/mode/2up?q=Golden+Gate

-  May 1940; the Funston Avenue opens on April 21st.  The CHPW mentions improvements to CA 1/LRN 56 on 19th Ave and Golden Gate Park.  No real information on why the alignment of CA 1/LRN 56 went from a planning routing east of Stow Lake to being built west of it.  Speculation on my part is that the Japanese Garden, Botanical Garden and Rose Garden played a part. 

https://archive.org/details/california193940highwacalirich/page/n527/mode/2up?q=Golden+Gate

[Max Rockatansky]

One more relevant to CA 1 from the October 1934 CHPW; the new feeder road from Junipero Serra Boulevard to 19th Avenue (the 19th Avenue Extension):

https://archive.org/details/californiahighwa193436calirich/page/n329/mode/2up?q=Junipero

So I'm assuming once the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937 that CA 1 still had to take a huge swing east on Fulton to get to Van Ness.  It would make sense since CA 1 would need to get around the Presidio somehow and the 1938 DOH Map City Insert doesn't really suggest any different:

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239590~5511893:-Verso--Road-Map-of-the-State-of-Ca?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans%201938;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=1&trs=2

I do plan on consolidating this all into a blog if anyone wondering.  I have the relevant photos I need to make one and I just happened upon that 1936 Shell Highway Map today.

[jander]

1955. https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/50833926582/

1934. https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/50833919542/in/photostream/

All the bridge plans
https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/albums/72157622139053795

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/5409261018/in/album-72157622139053795/
olden Gate Bridge Traffic Study: Primary and Secondary Approach Routes in San Francisco (1935)
From The Golden Gate Bridge at San Francisco: Report of the Traffic Engineer, September, 1935.

They wanted the primary access to be from Bay Street, not Lombard, because Lombard is not a reasonable way to cross Russian Hill. There is no mention in the text of how that diagonal from South Van Ness to San Jose Avenue was going to work. They also apparently wanted to cut Castro through to Glen Park, as it was originally platted.

[TheStranger]

They wanted the primary access to be from Bay Street, not Lombard, because Lombard is not a reasonable way to cross Russian Hill. There is no mention in the text of how that diagonal from South Van Ness to San Jose Avenue was going to work. They also apparently wanted to cut Castro through to Glen Park, as it was originally platted.

I wonder if Bay being relatively wide east of Fillmore was a side effect of 1930s bridge planning.

San Jose Avenue to South Van Ness, isn't that not too unlike how San Jose Avenue north of 280 has been essentially a freeway spur into Bernal Heights for years?  (using a cut that has been streetcar right of way since the 1930s)  Only difference being that one needs to use Mission and Cesar Chavez to connect between the two streets.

[jander]

https://imgur.com/a/hQKNnga

A couple maps from my collection

[Max Rockatansky]

From the Gribblenation blog:

"The Golden Gate Bridge opened to traffic in May of 1937 and changed how traffic got out of the City of San Francisco headed north over San Francisco Bay to Marin County.  While the original alignment of US Route 101 in San Francisco has been fairly well documented it got me thinking; "what about the original alignment of California State Route 1?"  Recently locating a 1936 Shell Highway Map Insert showed in detail how California State Route 1 got through San Francisco to the Hyde Street Pier before the modern alignment through Golden Gate Park and the Presidio were constructed.  In the article below the original alignment of California State Route 1 in San Francisco as well as the construction of the present highway are explored.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/02/the-original-alignment-of-california.html"