Frank Dunnigan, WNP member and columnist. -
If ever there was a Streetwise column that could make readers sit up and say, “Really?” then this is the one.
San Francisco, built on a series of hills, has been laced with tunnels for many, many decades. Some are heavily used, some less frequently, some have completely vanished from the scene and some never made it off the drawing boards.
For our purposes, it is necessary to exclude most sewage tunnels yes, they exist and they are certainly the most common form of tunnel beneath our streets but here, we will focus on those that were designed for legal public access by railroads, vehicles, and/or pedestrians.
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S.F. once hosted a bike tour on freeways and the Bay Bridge. Let s bring it back
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It has been my dream, ever since I became a bicycle commuter.
San Francisco’s freeways, tunnels and bridges are opened up for bikes. If only for a day, the city’s main arteries become a two-wheeled utopia.
That describes the Great San Francisco Bike Adventure, an annual event from 1986 to 1995 where tens of thousands of bicyclists traveled the city on roadways usually reserved for fast-moving automobiles. Sections of Interstate 280 were opened up, along with spectacular rides across the top deck of the later-demolished Embarcadero Freeway. At one point, CalTrans allowed pedal-powered traffic on the western span of the Bay Bridge.
From a school to a casino, a brief history of epic building moves in S.F. By Peter Hartlaub
The move of a 139-year-old home from 807 Franklin St. around the corner to Fulton Street on Sunday was the distraction San Francisco needed.
But the joyous event that dominated social media, as crews took down wires and trimmed roadside trees to facilitate the move, turns out to be just a small footnote in a city that can’t seem to keep its buildings in one place.
At one point in the 1940s and 1950s, house moves were so frequent there were three different San Francisco companies bidding for the jobs. It happened so often, sometimes dozens of moves in a year, that a Victorian on blocks could be on the city flag.