A retrospective of photos from the first ten years of what was then Bypass US 101!
http://www.sfchronicle.com/thetake/article/When-the-Bayshore-Freeway-was-the-Bay-Area-s-11268640.php
I really like the opening shot of Hospital Curve in San Francisco:
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fww1.hdnux.com%2Fphotos%2F61%2F31%2F60%2F12950580%2F5%2F920x1240.jpg&hash=e4169b0c76932420b28fd6cd9142ab33b9a63ba4)
Reading the article shows how new the concept of freeways was. "Why are the gates locked?" and having to tell the bus companies that they cannot stop on the freeway cracked me up! Thanks Stranger for a fine fun link to check out!
Rick
Top picture is interesting in 2 ways: the obvious wrong-way direction of travel (likely this was a PR stunt connected to the freeway's opening); also -- the high proportion of Studebakers to the total number of cars in the photo (much more than the overall production numbers would indicate). Maybe S.F. folks were iconoclastic even back then -- to the point of owning what would in a few years become a rarity -- or anomaly!
The picture of the Burlingame curve was intriguing as well -- now that there's landfill just off the east side of the freeway, containing businesses and office complexes. It was nice to see that at one point (aside from the Causeway) the Bayshore actually passed along the bay shore!
Quote from: sparker on July 11, 2017, 03:53:55 PM
Top picture is interesting in 2 ways: the obvious wrong-way direction of travel (likely this was a PR stunt connected to the freeway's opening); also -- the high proportion of Studebakers to the total number of cars in the photo (much more than the overall production numbers would indicate). Maybe S.F. folks were iconoclastic even back then -- to the point of owning what would in a few years become a rarity -- or anomaly!
Also the complete lack (at the time) of the overhead sign gantries that I'm so familiar with in that area! Kinda wish at least one had shown up so we could see US 40/US 50 signage in action from that era. (The "downtown" section of the Bayshore Freway mentioned in the article, also part of LRN 68, is what I generally think of as the Skyway portion of I-80 today - though stenciled labeling on the overpass beams does note it as the "Bayshore Viaduct").
One of the maps also seems to suggest that the portion of the Central Freeway that still carries US 101 to this day was built simultaneously with the Bayshore project, with the now-replaced segment from Van Ness/Mission west towards Market and north towards Golden Gate coming a year or two later.
Quote from: TheStranger on July 11, 2017, 04:35:29 PM
One of the maps also seems to suggest that the portion of the Central Freeway that still carries US 101 to this day was built simultaneously with the Bayshore project, with the now-replaced segment from Van Ness/Mission west towards Market and north towards Golden Gate coming a year or two later.
IIRC, the side-by-side steel-frame Central Freeway viaduct between the present I-80/US 101 interchange and just west of Van Ness (the point where it became a 2-level concrete structure)
was in fact built as a single unit with the above interchange, which featured similar architecture. The city of San Francisco was more than eager to take advantage of a direct link to Van Ness; the previous through route, which used (originally) 10th Street north from the end of Potrero (and later a 9th/10th one-way couplet) was, because of several directional changes, particularly accident-prone -- particularly at the Harrison/Bryant intersections -- the pre-Skyway west termini of US 40 & 50. The city of San Francisco and the state-maintained routes through it have always had a "knife-edged" love/hate relationship (love the business potential; hate the additional traffic).
Looking at the relevant articles in California Highways and Public Works, this is what was opened and under construction as of the date the Chronicle article is talking about, October 1953, with the northern terminus ramp at 9th and Bryant and the corresponding entrance at 10th and Bryant (diagram from Sept./Oct. 1953 issue):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FBzXXyRN.jpg&hash=2f9cd452c06e05bf73b75628ad40ef73683c078e)
Timeline of opening of the extensions:
July 1954: First stretch of the current I-80 Skyway, with ramps at 7th/Bryant and 7th/Harrison.
March 1955: Single level portion of the Central Freeway to Mission/South Van Ness.
May/June 1955: Completion of the final section of the Skyway, essentially 8th St. to 4th St., so that's the date when traffic from the Bayshore Freeway to the Bay Bridge does not need to use any surface street. At this point all auto traffic is still on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge.
April 1959: Northward, double-decked portion of the Central Freeway.
After that come the modifications required to put eastbound auto traffic on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge.
Interesting article and pictures!
Quote from: gonealookin on July 12, 2017, 12:08:31 PM
Looking at the relevant articles in California Highways and Public Works, this is what was opened and under construction as of the date the Chronicle article is talking about, October 1953, with the northern terminus ramp at 9th and Bryant and the corresponding entrance at 10th and Bryant (diagram from Sept./Oct. 1953 issue):
(https://www.aaroads.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi.imgur.com%2FBzXXyRN.jpg&hash=2f9cd452c06e05bf73b75628ad40ef73683c078e)
Timeline of opening of the extensions:
July 1954: First stretch of the current I-80 Skyway, with ramps at 7th/Bryant and 7th/Harrison.
March 1955: Single level portion of the Central Freeway to Mission/South Van Ness.
May/June 1955: Completion of the final section of the Skyway, essentially 8th St. to 4th St., so that's the date when traffic from the Bayshore Freeway to the Bay Bridge does not need to use any surface street. At this point all auto traffic is still on the upper deck of the Bay Bridge.
April 1959: Northward, double-decked portion of the Central Freeway.
After that come the modifications required to put eastbound auto traffic on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge.
As can be seen from the CH&PW map; job #1 -- ahead of any of the '55 extensions -- was to funnel Bayshore-originating traffic to the dual couplets: 9th/10th Street, which eventually turned west at Market St. to access Van Ness (the US 101 through route), and the westernmost portion of the Skyway, which emptied out (and conversely collected) traffic from the Harrison/Bryant couplet, which it used to reach the west anchorage of the Bay Bridge at 5th Street (then US 40/50). Prior to the Bayshore Freeway opening through the "Hospital Curve" section, US 101 traffic used Potrero Ave. to the west of the freeway alignment; US 101 directly segued onto 10th St. en route to Van Ness. The couplet with 9th Street was configured when the original access ramps (which exist to this day within the 80/101 interchange complex) to and from Bayshore were installed. Harrison & Bryant Streets remained as part of the state highway system until the completion of the Skyway in order to provide access to and from northward US 101.
If a Gousha San Francisco city map from 1952 to 1954 can be obtained, the downtown inset, which shows large-scale street outlines rather than lines -- and the state highway system as shaded in pink -- illustrates the above configuration in detail.
First photo (Hospital Curve): definitely a reversed image! It was taken on Oct. 2, 1953 - the first full day of operation (the stretch of freeway between Army/Caesar Cavez Blvd. and the 9th & 10th st. on/ off ramps at Bryant st.
Also Interesting here is that theres no concrete barrier on the median on US-101 at the time the freeway opened indicating that some sections were still under construction when the photo took place.
The barricades along the "left" shoulder are evidence of continuing construction. The slightly raised median was normal for an early 1950's highway. Jersey barriers were under development at the time, but were not standard.
Dear sparker re "Gousha San Francisco map from 1952 to 1954 'shows large - scale street outlines rather than lines...' " : I have a complete set of Gousha street maps of the city (as published by Chevron Oil) from 1949 to 1957 inclusive. The downtown inset maps' streets were just lines of various widths in the first issues by Gousha from 1948 through 1955 (the 1948 issue wasn't published by Chevron). Starting with the 1956 edition, the inset map was expanded and enlarged to the description you gave in your post, but I don't see the 'pink coloration on state highways' on it - just on US 101 as it goes north on Van Ness Ave. then left (west on Lombard St.) Hope this helps.
Dear sparker: re "The Picture of the Burlingame Curve..." - the offshore area was diked off in late 1964 or early '65, and was filled in by 1969. I remember people along the west end of it (closest to the airport) fishing for stripers (striped bass) in the late '50's and early '60's.