Historian Calls for I-280 Freeway Construction Stories

Building the I-280 freeway changed the neighborhood, forcing hundreds of residents out of their homes.

The massive project forced some 600 homes to be demolished or moved, displacing families and creating a concrete division between neighborhoods.

If your family was affected, the Sunnyside History Project wants your story.

“I am finally assembling the story, and I’d like to hear from you if you have a story to share,” the project’s founder Amy O’Hair wrote in a call for stories. “I have so far interviewed several people, but I know there are more stories to be told.”

The freeway construction was met by little resistance because it was the first one built. The city would become famous in later years for neighborhood groups staving construction of others in what’s known as the Freeway Revolt.

“Some families took the money they were given for their houses, and moved elsewhere, away from the neighborhood they had chosen,” O’Hair wrote. “Some had their house moved to a vacant lot elsewhere in the city or down the peninsula. For some people the change meant the loss of a cherished first home, a dream move from a congested downtown area to a place with room to breathe.”

Streets where properties were taken for the construction of I-280 freeway:

• Arco Way
• Badger Street
• Calvert Drive (Gone)
• Circular Avenue
• Colonial Way
• Cotter Street
• Cuvier Street
• Danton Street
• Detroit Street
• Gorham Street
• Havelock Street
• Judson Avenue
• Lamartine Street
• Lyell Street
• Marston Avenue
• Milton Street
• Nantucket Avenue
• Niagara Avenue
• Ocean Avenue
• Paulding Street
• Pilgrim Avenue
• Rotteck Street
• San Jose Avenue
• San Miguel Street
• Santa Rosa Avenue
• Standish Way
• Tara Street
• Theresa Street
• Tingley Street

Contact the Sunnyside History Project online to share your stories.