Broadway (Robert C. Levy) Tunnel

The Broadway Tunnel is located on Broadway Street between Larkin Street and Powell Street. An overpass carries Hyde Street over Broadway, and the underground tunnel portion runs beneath Leavenworth Street, Jones Street, Taylor Street, and Mason Street. Each tube of the Broadway Tunnel carries two lanes, allowing for a four-lane configuration. The tunnel started construction on May 1, 1950, and opened on December 21, 1952, and a large date stamp of "1952" can be seen at the western portal into the tunnel confirming the date of opening.1,2 The 1616-foot-long tunnel was built by the city of San Francisco (by the Morrison-Knudsen Construction Co. at a cost of approximately $6 million). Therefore, as near as we can tell, the Broadway Tunnel was never part of the state highway system.

Some have claimed that one of the alternatives for Interstate 480, the Embarcadero Freeway, would have used the Broadway Tunnel. However, we have not found any planning maps that confirm this. Planning maps from the mid-1960s for this unconstructed freeway show the proposed Interstate 480 using a corridor along the Embarcadero from the end of the demolished Embarcadero Freeway structure at Broadway, then turning west along either the Lombard Street corridor, Bay Street/Marina Boulevard corridor, or some combination thereof (including a potential underwater tube north of the Marina District).

References:

  1. Brainy History http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1952/december_21_1952_114118.html - "On This Date in History" feature cites opening of Broadway Tunnel on December 21, 1952. Site accessed on September 2, 2007.
  2. "The city's Tunnels: When S.F. Can't Go Over, It Goes Under Its Hills." http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/hgtun.htm San Francisco Chronicle by Kevin Wallace, March 27, 1949, pages 1 and 10. Site accessed on September 2, 2007.

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Page Updated Sunday September 02, 2007.