page_title: Interstate 280 (California)
section_title: Route description
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 280 (California) / Route description
caption_attribution_description: English: A view of the scenic portion of Interstate 280 in California, heading North.
context_page_description: Interstate 280 is a 57.5-mile-long major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It runs from I-680 and US 101 in San Jose to King and Fifth Streets in San Francisco, running just to the west of the larger cities of San Francisco Peninsula for most of its route.
  From I-880 in San Jose to State Route 1 in Daly City, I-280 was built and dedicated as the Junipero Serra Freeway, after the Spanish Franciscan friar who founded the first nine of 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco. One of the dedication signs still indicates that the Junipero Serra Freeway is known as the "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" due to its scenic route through the San Francisco Peninsula. From State Route 1 to the James Lick Freeway in San Francisco it is officially called the John F Foran Freeway. From the James Lick Freeway to its northern end at King Street and Fifth Street, I-280 is called the Southern-Embarcadero Freeway.
  I-280 is one of two 3-digit Interstate designations to appear on opposite coasts of the United States. I-110 in California and Florida is the only other designation.
context_section_description: The southern end of Interstate 280 is U.S. 101 in San Jose, where it acts as a continuation of Interstate 680 westward. In between San Jose and San Francisco, Interstate 280 passes through Santa Clara, Cupertino, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills before it settles along its scenic route just to the west of the cities of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County and just to the east of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I-280 re-emerges in a decidedly urbanized area in the city of San Bruno, passing through South San Francisco and Daly City before it runs across a southeastern swath of the city of San Francisco on the way to its northern terminus.
  The segment of the Junipero Serra Freeway between Cupertino (SR 85) and Daly City (SR 1) has been called the "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" since its dedication in the 1960s. Drivers along this portion of Interstate 280 are treated to scenic views of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and, at a few points, San Francisco Bay to the east, and are isolated by hills from the cities to the east. Through much of this segment, the freeway is actually running just inside the eastern rim of the rift valley of the San Andreas Fault. A particularly attractive 6-mile (10 km) stretch of the freeway from Hillsborough to Belmont provides a view at Crystal Springs Reservoir, formed by water piped over 160 miles (260 km) from Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, partly filling the rift valley.
  For nearly all of its length, Interstate 280 runs roughly parallel and several miles to the west of US 101 (the Bayshore Freeway). Both freeways are north–south routes connecting San Jose with San Francisco; however, unlike I-280, the route that U.S. 101 takes between the two cities goes entirely through urbanized areas. The vast majority of the population of the San Francisco Peninsula lives somewhere between Interstate 280 and U.S. 101.
  Interstate 280 does not currently intersect with Interstate 80, its 'parent' interstate, although it was originally intended to do so. The northern terminus of I-280 is now within about a mile of I-80's western terminus (at the interchange with US 101), but the two interstates do not directly connect; instead, I-280 complies with numbering conventions by virtue of its linkages to I-680 and I-880, both of which connect to I-80 at their northern termini. Although San Francisco planned and has had several opportunities to connect I-280 to I-80, it has chosen to use the money for other purposes. Instead, I-280's northernmost extension, which includes a significant double-deck section (with northbound traffic on the lower deck and southbound traffic on the upper), primarily functions now as a spur into Downtown San Francisco, as suggested by signage on northbound U.S. Route 101 at the Alemany Maze.
  Major intersections include U.S. 101 and State Route 1 in San Francisco, Interstate 380 in San Bruno, State Route 92 in San Mateo, and I-880 and I-680 and U.S. 101 in San Jose.
  I-280 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. I-280 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, and from the San Mateo–Santa Clara county line to the San Bruno city limits is officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation, meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community. The Junipero Serra Freeway is the name of Interstate 280 from SR 1 in San Francisco to SR 17, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 140, Chapter 208 in 1967, in honor of Spanish missionary Junípero Serra, who founded many of California's missions in the 18th century. I-280 from its southern terminus at U.S. 101 and Interstate 680 north to Interstate 880 in San Jose is part of the Sinclair Freeway (named after Joseph P. Sinclair, District Engi
caption: A view of the scenic portion of Interstate 280
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