Photos: At The Western Edge Of 24, A Freeway’s Future Is Being Reimagined

OAKLAND, Calif. — At the western edge of Highway 24, where the road begins its run toward the Caldecott Tunnel and the communities beyond, a man sat beside a makeshift stand near Interstate 980 on Aug. 24.
Overhead, a freeway sign pointed east toward Walnut Creek. Below it, his own cardboard sign carried a more immediate message: “I NEED CASH — GOD BLESS YOU.”

The scene played out along a 1.6-mile stretch of freeway that could look very different in the years ahead.
The California Department of Transportation is studying the future of I-980 through its Vision 980 project, an effort to reconnect West Oakland with downtown Oakland and consider alternatives for a freeway that has divided the two communities for decades.

Among the possibilities are additional crossings, a cap or deck over portions of the freeway, redesigned routes for pedestrians, bicyclists and transit, or converting the freeway into a boulevard. The changes also could make land available for housing, businesses, open space and other community uses.

The corridor has a direct connection to Highway 24.

The route that became I-980 was originally considered an extension of State Route 24, connecting the Grove-Shafter Freeway with Interstate 880 and a proposed second crossing of San Francisco Bay that was never built.

Construction of I-980 began in 1968 and was completed in 1985. Building the freeway required more than 42 acres of property and the removal of 503 houses, 155 trees, four churches and 22 businesses, according to Caltrans.

Caltrans says redlining and other discriminatory planning decisions contributed to the freeway’s route through West Oakland and the displacement and disinvestment that followed.

The first phase of the Vision 980 study was completed in November 2025. A second phase is expected to take a closer look at the feasibility of the recommended corridor concept, including traffic impacts, costs, implementation and a potential timeline.

For now, I-980 remains the western approach to a familiar stretch of road, feeding traffic toward Highway 24, the Caldecott Tunnel and Walnut Creek.

Beneath the green sign pointing east, the man waited beside a sign of his own and a single red flower.