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35-777: Interstate 280 ( I-280 ) is a 57.22-mile-long (92.09 km) major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California . It runs from I-680 and US Route 101 (US 101) in San Jose to King and 5th 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 (SR 1) in Daly City , I-280

70-529: A 110-foot-tall (34 m) monument to inefficiency for years in the 1970s, becoming the butt of local jokes. The highlight prank occurred in January 1976, when a 1960 Chevrolet Impala was placed on the highest bridge overnight, where it obviously would be impossible to drive. The following day, San Jose City Councilmember Joe Colla was photographed standing next to the car, an image that was circulated across many newspapers. It has been suggested this stunt nudged

105-486: A place where the highway mileage resets to zero. Beltways are also preceded by an even number in the first digit. Some examples of beltways include: Crystal Springs Dam The structure was completed in 1888. At the time of its completion, it was the largest concrete structure in the world. The designer was Hermann Schussler , Chief Engineer of the Spring Valley Water Company. The dam

140-682: A scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), 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 I-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

175-458: A state. There are three states that have no auxiliary Interstate Highways: Alaska, Arizona, and New Mexico. North Dakota has an auxiliary route, but it is unsigned , and Wyoming's does not meet Interstate Highway standards. Auxiliary Interstates are divided into three types: spur , loop , and bypass routes. The first digit of the three digits usually signifies whether a route is a bypass, spur, or beltway. The last two digits are derived from

210-841: 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 (FHWA). 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

245-665: Is the only other designation. I-280 was formerly shown on the app icon for Apple 's iOS and macOS built-in Apple Maps . This is because the highway goes through Cupertino , the home of Apple's headquarters. The southern end of I-280 is at the Joe Colla Interchange with US 101 in San Jose, where it acts as a continuation of I-680 westward. In between San Jose and San Francisco, I-280 passes through Santa Clara , Cupertino , Los Altos , and Los Altos Hills before it settles along its scenic route just to

280-441: The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake , plans to connect I-280 to I-80 were formally abandoned, the earthquake-damaged Embarcadero Freeway was torn down in 1991, and the northern terminus of I-280 was reconfigured to the present-day King Street on/offramps in 1997. The interchange at the beginning of I-280 at I-680 and US 101 in San Jose was constructed years before its completion. The three flyovers, with no connecting ramps, stood as

315-912: The James Lick Freeway (US 101) in San Francisco it is officially called the John F. Foran Freeway (after a former member of the California State Legislature ). From the James Lick Freeway to its northern end at King and 5th streets, I-280 is called the Southern-Embarcadero Freeway . I-280 is one of two auxiliary Interstate designations to appear on opposite coasts of the United States . I-110 in California and Florida

350-621: The "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" since its dedication in the 1960s. Drivers along this portion of I-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 six-mile (9.7 km) stretch of

385-551: The 18th century. I-280 from its southern terminus at US 101 and I-680 north to I-880 in San Jose is part of the Sinclair Freeway (named after Joseph P. Sinclair, District Engineer for District 4 California Division of Highways). A 26-foot (7.9 m) high faux-sandstone statue of Father Serra kneeling and pointing over the freeway is located at a highway rest area just north of the SR ;92 intersection between

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420-689: The Bunker Hill Drive and Black Mountain Road exits on northbound I-280 in Hillsborough and can be clearly seen by drivers in both directions. I-280 was added to the Interstate Highway System on September 15, 1955, as a route from San Jose north to San Francisco . This ran along the present alignment of I-280 south of San Francisco, but, in San Francisco, it was instead intended to run north parallel to SR 1 , past

455-893: The Embarcadero Freeway to reach the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge . I-480 would have continued south on the never-built section of the Southern-Embarcadero Freeway from Folsom and the Embarcadero to 5th and King streets, then along the present Southern-Embarcadero Freeway to meet the Southern Freeway (now I-280) near the Alemany Maze , which served as the US ;101 Bypass until I-280 was built. The I-280 number

490-546: The exact proportions of his mix specifications. In 1976, the dam was designated as a California Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers . The dam has survived both the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake – despite its location about 300 yards (270 m) east of the San Andreas Fault . It was subject to severe shaking in both earthquakes. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission began

525-670: 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. The waters are impounded by Crystal Springs Dam , which drains into San Francisco Bay via San Mateo Creek ; I-280 crosses the deep valley formed by this creek on the Doran Memorial Bridge , completed in 1969. For nearly all of its length, I-280 runs roughly parallel and several miles to

560-562: The main Interstate Highway. For instance, I-115 contains an odd number in the first digit (1), which indicates that this freeway is a spur. The last two digits signify the highway's origin. In this case, the "15" in I-115 shows that it is a supplement to I-15 . Exceptions to the standard numbering guidelines exist for a number of reasons. In some cases, original routes were changed, extended, or abandoned, leaving discrepancies in

595-743: 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 the Financial District, San Francisco , as suggested by signage on northbound US 101 at the Alemany Maze . Major intersections include US 101 and SR 1 in San Francisco, I-380 in San Bruno, SR 92 in San Mateo , SR 85 in Cupertino, and I-880 and I-680 and US 101 in San Jose. I-280

630-542: The parent route at one end; bypasses , which connect to the parent route at both ends; and beltways , which form a circle that intersects the parent route at two locations. Some routes connect to the parent route at one end but to another route at the other end; some states treat these as spurs while others treat them as bypasses. Like the primary Interstate Highways , auxiliary highways meet Interstate Highway standards (with rare exceptions ). The shorter auxiliary routes branch from primary routes; their numbers are based on

665-489: The parent route's number. All of the supplement routes for Interstate 95 (I-95) are designated with a three-digit number ending in "95": I-x95. With some exceptions, spur routes are numbered with an odd hundreds digit (such as I-395 ), while bypasses and beltways are numbered with an even hundreds digit (such as I-695 ). Because longer Interstates may have many such supplemental routes, the numbers can repeat from state to state along their route, but they will not repeat within

700-517: The past five years, according to which five of the 20 one-mile (1.6 km) stretches of highway in the state with the highest costs for this reason are on I-280, the worst being between San Bruno and Cupertino. Auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways ) are a subset of highways within the United States' Interstate Highway System . The 323 auxiliary routes generally fall into three types: spur routes , which connect to or intersect

735-693: The planned west end of I-80 which would have been at the junction with the Panhandle Freeway just south of Fulton and Park Presidio, along what would have been the Park Presidio Freeway north to the south approach to the Golden Gate Bridge . At that point, I-280 would have met I-480 (Embarcadero Freeway), which would have headed east on Doyle Drive ( US 101 ), the Golden Gate Freeway , and onto

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770-513: The process of renovating the dam in 2003. A major step in the renovation process, doubling the width of the main spillway and raising the dam to increase the water storage capacity, was completed in 2012. The renovations, which are intended to improve the reliability of the system in the event of an earthquake, were completed in 2016. Skyline Boulevard on top of the dam was closed for construction in October 2010. Construction completed in late 2018 and

805-415: The same Interstate, some states treat these as bypasses while others treat these as spurs—see Spur route above. A beltway (also known as a loop route ) completely surrounds a metropolitan city, and it is often connected with multiple junctions to other routes. Unlike other auxiliary Interstate Highways (and by extension, all primary Interstate Highways ), beltways do not have termini; however, they have

840-418: The state of California to find the funds to complete the freeway. The ramps opened five years later in 1981. In 2010, a resolution was introduced in the state legislature to name it the Joe Colla Interchange in memory of the late councilmember. In 2021, University of California, Davis , researchers published a report on wildlife-vehicle collisions based on California Highway Patrol and insurance data over

875-516: The system. In other cases, it may not be possible to use the proper number because the limited set of available numbers has been exhausted, causing a "non-standard" number to be used. A spur route 's number usually has an odd number for its first digit. It is usually one of the following: Examples include: Sometimes, a three-digit Interstate Highway branches off from another three-digit Interstate Highway. These spurs do not connect directly with their parent highways, but are associated with them via

910-472: The three-digit highways they do intersect with. Examples include: A bypass route may traverse around a city, or may run through it with the mainline bypassing. In a typical 3-digit Interstate Highway, bypasses usually have both its two termini junctioned with another Interstate highway. Bypass routes are preceded by an even number in the first digit. Examples include: In the case of an auxiliary Interstate highway which has both ends at Interstates but not

945-515: The west of US 101 ( Bayshore Freeway ). Both freeways are north–south routes connecting San Jose with San Francisco; however, unlike I-280, the route that US 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 I-280 and US 101. I-280 does not currently intersect with I-80 , its parent Interstate, although it

980-701: 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 reemerges 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

1015-399: The western Bay Bridge approach. This change was made on the state level in 1968, restoring SR 1 to its current alignment and truncating SR 82, SR 87 and SR 480. For the scenic portion, the section of I-280 between SR 85 (Cupertino) and SR 84 ( Woodside ) was completed in the late 1960s alongside SR 85. The section between SR 92 (San Mateo) and SR 84

1050-520: Was originally intended to do so . The northern terminus of I-280 is now within about a mile (1.6 km) 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 interchanges with the southern ends of I-680 and I-880, both of which connect to I-80 at their northern terminuses. Although San Francisco planned and has had several opportunities to connect I-280 to I-80, it has chosen to use

1085-708: Was approved on November 10, 1958. In the 1964 renumbering , I-280's legislative designation was officially applied to the planned route. This replaced SR 1 in San Francisco; the new SR 1 alignment turned northeast where I-280 now runs, quickly ending at SR 82 (San Jose Avenue/ Alemany Boulevard ). SR 1, however, continued to be signed along its former (and current) alignment, which had not been upgraded to freeway standards. A realignment approved January 1968 primarily took I-280's legislative definition onto its current route. This new routing ran along what had been SR 1, SR 82, SR 87 , and I-480 (downgraded to SR 480 then), ending at I-80 at

Interstate 280 (California) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1120-673: 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 (in Daly City) 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 SR 1 to

1155-430: Was constructed by separately pouring large blocks of the structure in place, and allowing them to set before pouring the adjoining blocks. An important design feature is that neither the horizontal nor the vertical joints line up. This helps the structure act as a single monolithic construction despite being made of thousands of individual blocks. Schussler ensured that each block of the dam was poured with concrete made to

1190-461: Was never built. This left I-280 terminating in midair at 3rd Street, along with ramp stubs at 5th Street that were intended to connect to the second proposed location of a parallel bay bridge (which was also never built). This also caused the completed freeway segment from the Bay Bridge approach/I-80 near 1st Street to The Embarcadero to be signed as part of SR 480 instead of I-280. After

1225-424: Was not completed until the 1970s. Until then, traffic was routed on Cañada Road between the two ends. A direct freeway connection between I-280 and I-80 was never completed. I-280 was planned to run along The Embarcadero underneath the Bay Bridge approach/I-80 to connect to SR 480 and then loop back to the Bay Bridge approach/I-80 near 1st Street. However, the segment of I-280 between 3rd Street and SR 480

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