Interstate 280 (California) - Route Description

Route Description

The southern end of Interstate 280 begins at U.S. Route 101 in San Jose, where it acts as a continuation of Interstate 680 westward. In between San Jose and San Francisco, Interstate 280 passes through Santa Clara, Cupertino, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills before it settles along its scenic route just to 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 re-emerges 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 and Daly City has been called the "World's Most Beautiful Freeway" since its dedication in the 1960s. Drivers along this portion of Interstate 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 6-mile (10 km) stretch of the freeway from Hillsborough to Belmont provides a beautiful look 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.

For nearly all of its length, Interstate 280 runs roughly parallel and several miles to the west of U.S. Route 101 (the Bayshore Freeway). Both freeways are north–south routes connecting San Jose with San Francisco; however, unlike I-280, the route that U.S. Route 101 takes between the two cities goes entirely through urbanized areas. The majority of the population of the San Francisco Peninsula lives somewhere between Interstate 280 and U.S. Route 101.

I-280 never intersects with Interstate 80, its parent interstate. The northern terminus of I-280 is within about a mile of I-80's western terminus (at the approach to the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge), but the two interstates do not directly connect. Although San Francisco has had several opportunities to connect I-280 to I-80, it has chosen to use the money for other purposes. Connecting the two freeways is considered to be politically and financially infeasible at this time, due to the city's strong anti-freeway stance. Instead, 280's northernmost extension primarily functions as a spur into Downtown San Francisco, as suggested by signage on northbound U.S. Route 101 at its San Francisco interchange with 280 (see history section below).

Most of Interstate 280, from San Jose to Daly City, is designated as the Junipero Serra Freeway in honor of Spanish missionary Junípero Serra, who founded many of California's missions in the 18th century. A 26-foot (8 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 Highway 92 intersection between 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. The segment of Interstate 280 north of SR 1 in San Francisco was originally named the Southern Freeway, but has since recently been officially renamed the John F. Foran Freeway after John Foran, a former California State Senator and Assembly member and current partner at law firm Nossaman LLP; however, most people still refer to this section of the freeway by its original name, the Southern Freeway. The section of I-280 between the James Lick Freeway and its end at 6th St. and King Street is called the Southern Embarcadero Freeway.

Major intersections include U.S. Route 101 and SR 1 in San Francisco, Interstate 380 in San Bruno, and Interstate 880 and 680 and U.S. Route 101 in San Jose.

The Junipero Serra Freeway is Route 280 from SR 1 in San Francisco to SR 17, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 140, Chapter 208 in 1967.