Here in San Francisco, they are tearing down another highway. After the 1989 earthquake, apparently, two damaged highways were pulled down instead of rebuilt. I never visited San Francisco before those disappeared, but I certainly appreciate the openness of the Embarcadero now. Now, after several votes back and forth over several years (at least the entire 6+ years we’ve been here), the Fell off ramp (aka, the Central Freeway) is coming down. The San Francisco Chronicle, of course, has followed the progress, and lack thereof, all along. A mid-April editorial, Life after freeways, wonders if we’ll have similarly positive results with the current highway.
“NO CITY hates cars like San Francisco. After the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, city leaders tore down two heavily-used freeways while other towns battled to replace theirs.”
We won’t know whether to celebrate the outcome or not until 2006, when it’s all scheduled to be done. Follow the project yourself.
On a more personal note, it sure was fun, for all of us, to watch some of the demolition. In the morning, we stopped by the Oak/Laguna intersection to watch the workers prep everything (laying dirt down, perhaps to protect the road surface?). Ben was, predictably, fascinated — but Brooke and I found it interesting, too. Later in the afternoon, we went back and watched the controlled chaos. Three excavators with ‘breaker’ attachments (I know these things now, thanks to Ben), a skid steer, a loader, and various trucks to cart away the rubble… all of them focused on tearing down an overpass. Amazing how much concrete and steel are in a highway section. I had a headache from all the noise eventually, but an entertaining hour-plus on a sunny afternoon.