When the Bayshore Freeway was the Bay Area's 'Highway of Tomorrow'
Chronicle Vault
Bill Van Niekerken July 11, 2017 Updated: Aug. 11, 2018 12:03 p.m.
When the Bayshore Freeway was the Bay Area's 'Highway...
1of31Bayshore market near Peninsula Avenue, A fence controversy at the Bayshore Freeway, in Burlingame on the Peninsula October 17, 1947Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle
2of31Looking North in San Mateo, with the Bayshore Freeway's 3rd Avenur overpass in the foreground, September 1954 Handout Photo courtesy of California Division of Highways
4of31A fence controversy at the Bayshore Freeway, in Burlingame on the Peninsula October 17, 1947Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle
6of31Opening day of the Bayshore Freeway, in San Francisco October 1, 1953Photo: Photographer Unknown, The Chronicle
9of31Construction of the Freeway overpass at Third Avenue and Bayshore Freeway in San Mateo, April 7, 1953Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle
11of31Construction of the Freeway in San Francisco March 13, 1953Photo: Photographer Unknown, The Chronicle
12of31Opening day of the Bayshore Freeway, in San Francisco October 1, 1953Photo: Photographer Unknown, The Chronicle
13of31Construction of the Freeway overpass at Third Avenue and Bayshore Freeway in San Mateo, April 7, 1953Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle
14of31Views of Burlingame on the Peninsula and San Francisco Freeway Probably Bayshore Freeway, March 24, 1947Photo: Duke Downey, The Chronicle
16of31Construction of the Freeway overpass at South San Francisco San Francisco Freeway Probably Bayshore Freeway, April 26, 1948 The bridge overpasses the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks at Grant Avenueand Bayshore Highway. The longest 47 tons, and a 140 feet long, girder on the longest bridge on the Bay Shore FreewayPhoto: Ken McLaughlin, The Chronicle
17of31Looking North in Burlingame with the Bayshore Freeway's Broadway overpass in the foreground, October 12, 1949 Handout PhotoPhoto: Photographer Unknown
18of31Views of Burlingame on the Peninsula and San Francisco Freeway Probably Bayshore Freeway, March 24, 1947 Northern MillbraePhoto: Duke Downey, The Chronicle
20of31Structural steelwork on the 17th Street - Bryant Street overpass section of the Bayshore Freeway, Photo ran 10/22/1952, p. 8 Handout photo by Cal Pictures
21of31Photographer Art Frisch takes a photo as landfill progresses at Candlestick Cove for a Bayshore Freeway land bridge construction near Candlestick Point September 28, 1955Photo: Art Frisch, The Chronicle
22of31South Potrero Hill, a portion of Bayshore Freeway hooks around San Francisco General Hospital September 23, 1953 Photo ran 09/26/1953, p. 14Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle
23of31Aerial view of the Candlestick Causeway, a land bridge near Candlestick Point a vital portion of Bayshore Freeway to open the next day, July 09, 1957 Photo ran 07/10/1957 Associated Press
25of31Landfill begins at Candlestick Cove for a Bayshore Freeway land bridge construction near Candlestick Point September 28, 1955
26of31Aerial view of the Candlestick Causeway, a land bridge near Candlestick Point a vital portion of Bayshore Freeway delighted commuters as it would bypass Tunnel Hill, Brisbane and Boneyard Hill, July 25, 1957Photo: Barney Peterson, The Chronicle
27of31The Candlestick Causeway, delighted commuters as it would bypass Tunnel Hill, Brisbane and Boneyard Hill, which were dangerous stretches of the old highway, June 17, 1957 Photo ran 06/30/1957, p. 3 Penin. SectionPhoto: Gordon Peters, The Chronicle
28of31Spectators watch as the Candlestick Causeway, a land bridge near Candlestick Point a vital portion of Bayshore Freeway opens July 11, 1957Photo: Bill Young, The Chronicle
29of31Aerial views of Bayshore Freeway construction of section near Candlestick Point September 28, 1955Photo: Photographer Unknown, The Chronicle
30of31Landfill begins at Candlestick Cove for a Bayshore Freeway land bridge construction near Candlestick Point September 28, 1955Photo: Michael Macor
31of31Bayshore Freeway progress down the Peninsula, January 27, 1957Photo: Christian Abraham
Try not to snicker. The Bayshore Freeway was once dubbed the Bay Area's "Highway of Tomorrow."
Decades ago, when many of us were growing up around the region, some of today's most-driven highways were either under construction or still only a part of planners' imaginations. Thinking back to these times, I headed to The Chronicle's archive and found proof that Highway 101's Bayshore Freeway was once a considered a futuristic transportation innovation. Really.
Looking through packs of negatives, I turned up 10 to 12 aerial images from 1947 that show the road being rebuilt in Burlingame, Millbrae and San Bruno. These areas look nearly unrecognizable from what we see today, with acres of open space, a large quarry near Skyline Boulevard and a dairy with cows pushed up against the freeway. There's even a small forest at the Burlingame-Millbrae border that El Camino Real passes through.
The Bayshore construction project saw the first 2-mile stretch, from Broadway in Burlingame to Peninsula Avenue in San Mateo, completed in the summer of 1947, and it was followed in January 1948 by the 5-mile stretch north of Broadway to Colma Creek in South San Francisco.
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The benefit for motorists along what was known as the "Bloody Bayshore" was immediate. The Chronicle on Jan. 8, 1948, reported that "with the opening of this first section of freeway, crashes dropped from five accidents a week to one every five weeks, due to the elimination of head-on crashes as well as reducing headlight glare."
The first San Francisco stretch of the new freeway was a 2-mile stretch of elevated road running near Bryant Street to what was then Army Street. For the opening, Mayor Elmer E. Robinson donned goggles and severed a galvanized steel chain with an acetylene torch. Immediately, both ends saw traffic jams that could delay trips for an hour, a sight that's familiar decades later.
Despite overall excitement, lightning-fast acceptance and a surge in use, not everyone was thrilled with the change. Some residents felt restricted by a 6-foot fence built to keep pedestrians off the freeway. Buses could no longer stop along the route through Burlingame and drop off passengers "practically at their front door."
San Mateo, for its part, was unhappy with the newfound speed and formally requested that limits be set at 35 mph through the city's section of freeway.
Another commuter complaint focused on the gates along the freeway being locked.
J.H. Skeggs, a district engineer for the State Division of Highways, explained the state's stance in The Chronicle in a collection of by-the-book quotes: "The gates are for maintenance crews only. ... We have long ago since entered into an agreement with the bus companies, and they simply do not stop on the freeways. ... The freeway is for the purpose of moving automobiles and moving them fast, without impediments, at a high rate of speed. We can't have pedestrians walking across those six high-speed lanes, or there will be murder at the crossroads."
It's safe to assume those common-sense explanations didn't appease everyone along the Bayshore corridor despite the warnings of "murder at the crossroads."
A fence controversy at the Bayshore Freeway, in Burlingame on the Peninsula October 17, 1947
Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle
The Division of Highways took bids starting April 4, 1954, on the last stretch of the freeway between San Francisco and the Peninsula, which included the 3-mile-long Candlestick Cove causeway to Sierra Point, bypassing the dangerous Tunnel and Boneyard hills, two hot spots which had contributed to the road's "Bloody Bayshore" nickname.
By 1958, with construction complete, the highway finally provided commuters a signal-free route between San Francisco and San Jose.
Of course, the lack of stop signs couldn't prevent the stop-and-go gridlock.
Bill Van Niekerken is the library director of The San Francisco Chronicle, where he has worked since 1985. In his weekly column, From the Archive, he explores the depths of The Chronicle's vast photography archive in search of interesting historical tales related to the city by the bay.
Bill Van Niekerken
Bill Van Niekerken is the Library Director of the San Francisco Chronicle. He does research for reporters and editors and manages the photos, negatives and text archives. He has a weekly column "From the Archive", that focuses on photo coverage of historic events. For this column Bill scans and publishes 20-30 images from photos and negatives that haven't been seen in many years.
Bill started working at the Mercury News in 1980, when nothing in news libraries was digital. Research was done using paper clippings, and cameras shot film. He moved to the Chronicle in 1985, just as the library was beginning their digital text archive.
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