One hundred percent of tree material removed during the preconstruction activity was recycled or salvaged by Green Waste Recycle Yard in Richmond, California.
More than 50 native plant species, for a total of 45,000 plants, were collected in the Presidio prior to construction and are now being grown in the Presidio Nursery.
Many of the piles for the high viaduct will be 12 feet in diameter, requiring a special oscillator rig for installation of the piles. Larger, deeper piles mean fewer piles are necessary, opening views from the Presidio to the bay.
The new parkway will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross over or under Doyle Drive in accordance with the Presidio Trails and Bikeways Master Plan.
The new parkway will have larger 11- and 12-foot lanes to accommodate buses and provide an improved experience for drivers.
Each weekday, nearly 120,000 vehicles travel between Marin and San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge along Doyle Drive.
The start of construction of the Presidio Parkway was accelerated by more than a year thanks to the receipt of $50 million in federal stimulus funding.
The new parkway will improve traffic safety by including continuous shoulders for emergency and disabled vehicles.
The first set of tunnels, the Battery Tunnels, will be constructed north of the San Francisco National Cemetery and span 853 feet.
Halleck Street will be closed and temporarily removed during construction. Upon completion of the Main Post Tunnels, Halleck Street will be restored over the top of the new tunnels.
The Main Post Tunnels will be constructed north of the Main Post parade grounds. These will be the longer of the two sets of tunnels, spanning 1,017 feet.
$3.6 million went directly to small and local businesses for the project’s first preconstruction contract (tree removal and native plant and seed collection).
The new parkway will include extended bus bays on both sides of Richardson Avenue.
Seismic safety will be achieved in 2011 when traffic is transferred onto new structures and the temporary bypass adjacent to the existing facility.
A robust Disadvantaged and Small Business Enterprise Participation Program has been established to actively engage businesses throughout San Francisco, the Bay Area, and California to participate in the project.
The northbound and southbound roadways will be separated by a wide, landscaped median improving driver safety and creating a parkway feel.
Both sets of tunnels will be constructed using the cut and cover method by digging into the natural bluffs and covering the tunnels with a green pedestrian corridor.
Including a temporary bypass in the construction phasing reduced the construction duration by nearly two years.
Concrete is used more than any other man-made material in the world

History

Replacement Project History | Doyle Drive History | The Doyle Drive Historic Corridor

The Doyle Drive Historic Corridor

New Deal Public Works, the San Francisco Approaches to the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Northern Presidio<< back

WPA crews at work on Richardson Boulevard connecting Doyle Drive with Lombard Street/Highway 101, 1937. William Mooser, Jr., Report on Progress of the Works Program in San Francisco, January 1938

WPA stonemasons building pedestrian connections in the Presidio, 1938. Clyde E. Healy, San Francisco Improved: Report of Clyde E. Healy, Assistant Chief Engineer, City of San Francisco and Coordinator of WPA Projects; period October 10, 1935 to August 31, 1939, 1939

The WPA-funded Commissary building constructed in 1939 and recently the home of the Crissy Field Center, ca. 1940. Courtesy Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Park Archives (GOGA 32421)

Richardson Drive and the original GGB&HD light standards, 1937. William Mooser, Jr., Report on Progress of the Works Program in San Francisco, January 1938

DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION OF THE 1930s, several public works programs played an important role in shaping the Presidio. These programs were part of the “New Deal,” the popular name for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s wide ranging efforts to promote economic recovery. Two New Deal programs, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Public Works Administration (PWA), funded construction of the Golden Gate Bridge approach roads through the Presidio: Doyle Drive/Highway 101 and Veterans Boulevard/Highway 1.

UNDER FEDERAL GRANTS AWARDED TO THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE & HIGHWAY DISTRICT (GGB&HD), WPA laborers performed extensive demolition, excavation and fill work in addition to building drainages, retaining walls, and pedestrian passageways along Doyle Drive and at the Golden Gate Bridge Toll Plaza area. The War Department’s right-of-way grant for Doyle Drive stipulated that the GGB&HD compensate the Army for any military facilities demolished for Doyle Drive. As part of the replacement program, WPA workers built new sewers and secondary roads, realigned and widened major roads such as Lincoln Boulevard, and constructed a number of buildings. Under grants to the U.S. Army, WPA workers remodeled existing buildings such as the Officers’ Club (Building 50), and constructed new buildings in the Spanish Revival style such as the Commissary (Building 603). With the City and County of San Francisco’s sponsorship, WPA crews built most of Richardson Boulevard and its elevated reinforced-concrete ramps connecting Doyle Drive with Lombard Street.

THE PARK PRESIDIO/HIGHWAY 1 APPROACH to the Golden Gate Bridge received an $800,000 grant from the PWA. This enabled the California Department of Public Works to build the tunnel, viaducts, and graded ramp sections that carry traffic from Park Presidio Boulevard to the Golden Gate Bridge. This road was completed in 1940, three years after the completion of the bridge.

NEW DEAL POLICYMAKERS embraced the economic theories of British economist John Maynard Keynes. Keynes held that temporary deficit spending on public works by national governments could help revive depressed economies by reducing unemployment and increasing consumer spending. Today, Keynesian economics informs the National Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which helps fund the Doyle Drive Replacement Project.

History

The Doyle Drive Historic Corridor

New Deal Public Works, the San Francisco Approaches to the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Northern Presidio<< back

WPA crews constructed the majority of Richardson Boulevard and its elevated ramps connecting Doyle Drive to Lombard Street.