Lefty O'Doul Bridge

For other uses, see Third Street Bridge.
Lefty O'Doul Bridge
The bridge as seen from Oracle Park
Coordinates37°46′36″N 122°23′24″W / 37.77667°N 122.39000°W / 37.77667; -122.39000 (Lefty O'Doul Bridge)
CarriesCars, bicycles, pedestrians
CrossesMission Creek
LocaleSan Francisco, California
Named forLefty O'Doul
Characteristics
DesignBascule bridge
No. of lanes5
History
DesignerJoseph Strauss[1]
Construction cost$640,000[2]
OpenedMay 12, 1933[1]
Statistics
TollNone
Location
Map

The Lefty O'Doul Bridge (originally the Third Street Bridge and China Basin Bridge) is a bascule bridge connecting the China Basin and Mission Bay neighborhoods of San Francisco, carrying Third Street across the Mission Creek Channel. It is located directly adjacent to Oracle Park.

History

The bridge opened on May 12, 1933, at a ceremony attended by mayor Angelo Joseph Rossi, having been designed by Joseph Strauss, chief engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge.[1] At the time, it carried pedestrians, automobiles, streetcars, and trains.[1] The bridge was renamed in 1980 in honor of baseball player Lefty O'Doul.[3][4] It was retrofitted in 1999, prior to the opening of the adjacent ballpark, originally named Pacific Bell Park.[5]

Concrete counterweights for lifting the bridge

Usage

The bridge carries five lanes of traffic. During normal conditions, the two easternmost lanes carry northbound traffic, the two westernmost lanes carry southbound traffic, and the center lane is reversible. Before, during, and after events at neighboring Oracle Park, the two easternmost lanes are closed to vehicles and used exclusively by pedestrians, while the remaining two easternmost lanes are reversible.[6]

The bridge has been featured as a key location in three films: The third Dirty Harry film The Enforcer (1976), the James Bond movie A View to a Kill (1985) (where Bond drives a fire truck over the opened bridge), and San Andreas (2015).[7]

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Third Street Bridge Opens". The San Francisco Examiner. May 13, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "$640,000 Span Carries First Traffic". The San Francisco Examiner. May 13, 1933. p. 3. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ Salter, Stephanie (August 17, 1986). "O'Doul proves S.F. never too big for its bridges". The San Francisco Examiner. p. B-1. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  4. ^ Salter, Stephanie (August 17, 1986). "O'Doul proves S.F. never too big for its bridges (cont'd)". The San Francisco Examiner. p. B-2. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  5. ^ Delgado, Ray (July 13, 1999). "Third Street drawbridge to be closed 15 weeks". The San Francisco Examiner. p. A-7. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  6. ^ San Francisco Board of Supervisors Resolution #73-00
  7. ^ Nolte, Carl (31 December 2017). "What's up with Lefty O'Doul Bridge? It's locked for repairs, reaching skyward during closure". The San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 1 January 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2024.

Further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lefty O'Doul Bridge.