SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — A new report by an international non-profit group is once again sparking conversation about what to do with underused stretches of freeways and interstates.
In the Bay Area, that includes a stretch of both Interstate 280 and 980.
The report is from Freeways Without Futures.
The report names a chunk of I-280, north of 16th Street, which links Highway 101 to Mission Bay.
The Congress of New Urbanism is suggesting ideas on designing and using urban space in better ways.
The report includes an artist’s rendition of how the spot in San Francisco would look as a boulevard with new housing and commercial buildings.
The removal of the I-280 spur would be the first fully voluntary freeway removal. And the idea has been approved by Mayor Ed Lee.
It has been talked about for years and some hope the latest report will move things along.
It is a similar story with what is considered an “underutilized, below-grade” stretch of I-980 in Oakland.
One of the leading design concepts comes from a citizen-led campaign called Connect Oakland, and the removal is supported by Mayor Libby Schaaf.
The design shows a tree-lined boulevard intended to reconnect neighborhoods, linking West Oakland to downtown.
The report says that chunk of I-980 carries only 73,000 cars a day but cuts a huge 18-lane swath through the center of Oakland.
The group’s report pinpoints other problem areas throughout the country including in New York, New Jersey, and Colorado.