OCTAVIA BOULEVARD'S DIRTY SECRET
The City of San Francisco has evaded any obligation to provide mitigation's to the neighborhood that could reduce the negative impact of the freeway structure on local resident's lives and community.
The new Central Freeway is the only freeway in San Francisco to be re-built after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the original structure. The rebuilding project completed in September 2005. The overpass was built with no new Environmental Impact Report due to claims that it was the same as before, despite the fact that the new freeway ramp is twice as wide and a third lower than the original, and comes within 50 feet of some homes. The new configuration brings the on/off ramp touchdown to Market Street, eliminating any trace of an elevated structure from Hayes Valley where the old touchdown at Fell Street was located. No consideration was given to the impact on residents whose homes were built in the North Mission District since the original 1959 freeway construction and impact studies. Over the past 5 decades, research studies have documented dangerous health effects from highway pollution on humans, animals and the environment. USGS liquefaction susceptibility mapping shows the entire Central Freeway is built on land rated with the highest level of potential for liquefaction in the event of an earthquake.
In nearby West Oakland, a small low-income community was seriously impacted by a new post-earthquake freeway configuration. The most adversely affected by the highway received mitigations such as air filtration systems for buildings close to the freeway. The San Francisco south of Market neighborhood has received nothing. Six months after the new freeway opened, no mitigations or projects have been started in attempts to repair the damage of this giant structure that impacts livability in the neighborhood. The 40 year old trees near the former freeway were torn down durning construction in 2004, and since then only a few small trees were planted in the area, not enough to help counter pollution. A ban on commercial traffic using the exit is desired by concerned residents whose family members suffer from asthma (since diesel emissions are the most dangerous components of highway pollution).
There are well-documented health effects of highway-generated pollution, including asthma and heart disease, especially among the young and elderly.
(see environmental studies ).
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