| Central Freeway Replacement Project/Octavia Boulevard |
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BackgroundThe 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake critically damaged San Francisco's Central Freeway, forcing closure and/or retrofit of many portions of the freeway. San Francisco residents, commuters and visitors had to adapt to this damaged roadway system for over a decade. In November 1998, San Francisco voters approved Proposition B, a measure that authorized Caltrans to replace the Central Freeway with an elevated structure to Market Street and a ground-level boulevard from Market along Octavia Street to Fell Street. The San Francisco County Transportation Authority was the fiscal agent for the replacement project. The ProjectThe new Octavia Boulevard, along with the touchdown ramp of the elevated Central Freeway at Market Street, opened to traffic on September 9, 2005. The facility addresses regional transportation and mobility concerns as well as the concerns and desires of the local neighborhoods for a livable community. In conjunction with the new Octavia Boulevard, and as part of the Central Freeway Replacement Project, Caltrans reconstructed part of the Central Freeway as a single-deck elevated freeway from Mission Street continuing over Duboce and Valencia Streets to the south side of Market between McCoppin Street and Elgin Park. The freeway comes to grade at a signalized intersection at Market Street, serving as the northern-most entrance and exit to the Central Freeway. North of Market Octavia Street is a 4-lane, two-way roadway from Market Street to Fell Street. Straddling this roadway are one-way local traffic lanes separated by landscaped medians. For information on issues arising after the opening of the facility, including vehicle queueing on Oak Street in during the morning peak, impacts to Muni bus routes crossing the boulevard in the peak commute periods, and pedestrian and bicycle safety issues at Market and Octavia and other locations along the boulevard, please see our page on the Central Freeway and Octavia Boulevard Circulation Study. |
