Eastshore Freeway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eastshore Freeway
Maintained by Caltrans
South end:	MacArthur Maze in Oakland
North end:	Carquinez Bridge
System:	San Francisco Bay Area freeways
State highways in California (list - pre-1964) County routes in California (list) History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

The Eastshore Freeway is a segment of Interstates 80 and 580 along the northeast shoreline of San Francisco Bay in northern California. It begins at the Carquinez Bridge and ends at the MacArthur Maze interchange just east of the western end of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Interstate 580 joins the Eastshore Freeway at an interchange in Albany.

The Eastshore Freeway was created in the mid 1950s (construction commenced in 1954) by re-engineering the Eastshore Highway, a thoroughfare constructed in the 1930s (1937-39) as one of the approaches to the Bay Bridge and designated as part of U.S. Route 40. The Eastshore Highway began in El Cerrito at an intersection with San Pablo Avenue at Hill Street between Potrero Avenue and Cutting Blvd., adjacent to the location today of the El Cerrito Del Norte station of BART. It was not a freeway in that access was at intersections with adjoining streets rather than by ramps. The Eastshore Highway ran from El Cerrito to the Bay Bridge along the same routing as today's freeway, although it was much narrower. A causeway was constructed for this purpose by filling in part of the mudflats along the bayshore. In the stretch from University to Ashby Avenues in Berkeley, this resulted in the creation of an artificial lagoon which was developed by the WPA in the late 1930s as "Aquatic Park".

The frontage road along the east side of today's Eastshore Freeway between Buchanan Street in Albany and Hearst Avenue in Berkeley retains the name "Eastshore Highway". The terminal segment of the old Eastshore Highway in El Cerrito between Potrero and San Pablo Avenues is today named "Eastshore Blvd.".

Originally, the name "Eastshore Freeway" applied first to what is today known as the "Nimitz Freeway" (I-880) upon its construction in 1947. This freeway was dedicated in 1958 to Admiral Nimitz, and so for a few years in the 1950s prior, the Eastshore Freeway actually stretched the entire length of the east shore of San Francisco Bay. (Oddly, Caltrans still shows this in its current highway name book referenced below - see p.16, p.28 of PDF) Until the late 1960s, the Eastshore Freeway was also designated as part of State Highway 17 together with the Nimitz.

The Eastshore Freeway was officially re-named the "Kent D. Pursel Memorial Freeway" in 1968, but it is hardly recognized as such by the public. The maps of the California State Automobile Association (CSAA), for instance, still show the name "Eastshore Freeway".

The interchange where I-580 joins I-80 is still known locally as the "Hoffman Split", an allusion to the time before the I-580 freeway replaced Hoffman Blvd. as the highway leading to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. The same interchange today also serves the Buchanan Street exit in Albany.

[edit] Exit list

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [1][2][3]	#[4]	Destinations	Notes
Alameda ALA 2.80-8.04	Oakland	2.80	8B	I-880 south (Nimitz Freeway) / West Grand Avenue – San Jose, Alameda	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.80	8B	I-580 east (MacArthur Freeway) – Downtown Oakland, Hayward, Stockton	West end of I-580 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.80		I-80 west (Bay Bridge) – San Francisco	West end of I-80 overlap; westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	Emeryville	3.79	9	Powell Street – Emeryville	No eastbound exit from I-880
	Berkeley	4.58	10	SR 13 (Ashby Avenue) / Shellmound Street
		5.82	11	University Avenue – Berkeley
		6.62	12	Gilman Street
	Albany	R7.30	13A	Buchanan Street – Albany	Signed as exit 13 westbound
		East end of I-580 overlap
		R7.30	13B	I-580 west – Point Richmond, San Rafael	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				Pierce Street	Former eastbound exit and entrance before reconstruction of I-80/I-580 interchange
Contra Costa CC 0.00-14.14	Richmond	0.22	14A	Central Avenue – El Cerrito
		1.00	14B	Carlson Boulevard
	El Cerrito	1.67	15	Potrero Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	Richmond	2.04	15	Cutting Boulevard (SR 123)	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		2.62	16A	MacDonald Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		2.96	16B	San Pablo Avenue, Barrett Avenue	Signed as exit 16 westbound
		3.41	17	Solano Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		3.80	17	McBryde Avenue	Westbound exit only
	San Pablo	4.34	18	San Pablo Dam Road
		5.25	19A	El Portal Drive
	Richmond	5.98	19B	Hilltop Mall, Auto Plaza
	Pinole	6.60	20	To I-580 west / Richmond Parkway, Fitzgerald Drive – San Rafael	Unconstructed SR 93
		7.60	21	Appian Way
		8.51	22	Pinole Valley Road
	Hercules	10.06	23	SR 4 east – Stockton	No westbound exit
		10.06	23	Hercules
		10.69	24	Willow Avenue – Rodeo
		12.75	26	To SR 4 / Cummings Skyway – Martinez, Concord
		13.49	27	Pomona Street – Crockett, Port Costa
		14.14	Carquinez Bridge over the Carquinez Strait

[edit] References

• 2006 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans. Retrieved on 2007-03-28.