Issue date: July 28, 1999

MENLO MEMORIES: Dedicating the Dumbarton Bridge

Question: Which bridge first spanned the bay? Well, the Southern Pacific railroad bridge, just south of the Dumbarton Bridge. was built around 1907, but when Dumbarton, the second bridge, was opened 20 years later, it got all of the applause.

After an engineering battle against mud, wind and tides, the $2 million Dumbarton Bridge opened almost two years to the day after the first piles were driven. Opening ceremonies had to be postponed a few days because of bad weather, but on Saturday, Jan. 15, 1927, a caravan of San Francisco officials and other Peninsula points joined delegates from Menlo Park and Palo Alto to make it official. Editorials, cartoons, photos, and 4-column news stories in Bay Area newspapers proclaimed the wonders of the new time and mileage-saving span. The Chronicle called it a "barrier buster" while the Examiner promised "Now you can walk dry-footed across the Bay" which seemed about the only way most people could walk it.

The honor of being the first car across went to a Chrysler sedan, and the driver was greeted by "Miss San Francisco," Eleanor Twohig, who was wearing a full length fur, a cloche hat, and a proud smile. The first commercial vehicle was a white bus loaded with San Francisco passengers bound for Yosemite.

But wait! All was not yet progress, peace and pageantry. Fights and feuds were to follow. Three months after the opening, on April 16, the bridge was closed because Menlo Park exits were not available. A paving contractor for Newbridge Park could not finish Carlton Avenue, the route from the west end, because bridge traffic had damaged it, so he closed the road until he could finish the job and get paid. Meanwhile Willow Road to the bridge was still under construction.

Traffic officers stationed at both ends of the bridge directed drivers away from it. A large number of very disgruntled motorists, headed for the Stanford-California track meet, were rerouted via Alviso. The Redwood City Tribune reported "A near riot occurred at the western approach when a number of motorists broke through the barriers". Other drivers were reported to have left the roads and cut across vacant lots to reach the bridge. The Menlo-Atherton called it "The War of the Roads."

At that point the San Mateo County district attorney, the sheriff, and the Board of Supervisors moved in to quell the hassle. Madera Street, a block north of Carlton, was ordered opened to temporarily accommodate bridge traffic. On April 19 the Examiner reported "The Battle of Dumbarton Bridge has passed into history. A treaty of peace was signed at Redwood City yesterday afternoon after repeated conferences concerning protocols, reservations, and, and almost everything except the League of Nations."

Thus, the bridge not only opened, but two days later it was announced that due to increased traffic it would be open 24 hours a day.

With today's (1983) reborn Dumbarton Bridge there are still the inevitable slowdowns at peak hours, but no reports of irate motorists breaking down barricades or cutting across vacant lots. And that, to this peaceful community, is progress.



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