Lombard Street (San Francisco)

Lombard Street's west end is at Presidio Boulevard inside The Presidio; it then heads east through the Cow Hollow neighborhood. For 12 blocks, between Broderick Street and Van Ness Avenue, it is an arterial road that is co-signed as U.S. Route 101. Lombard Street continues through the Russian Hill neighborhood and to the Telegraph Hill neighborhood. At Telegraph Hill it turns south, becoming Telegraph Hill Boulevard to Pioneer Park and Coit Tower. Lombard Street starts again at Winthrop Street and ends at The Embarcadero as a collector road.{{google maps |url= https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Lombard+St,+San+Francisco,+CA,+USA&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title |title= Lombard Street }}

Lombard Street is known for the one-way block on Russian Hill between Hyde and Leavenworth Streets, where eight sharp turns are said to make it the most crooked street in the world. The design, first suggested by property owner Carl Henry{{cite web |url= http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=1012&submitted=TRUE&srch_text&submitted2&topic=neighborhoods |title= Lombard Street |date= February 2009 |author= Saperstein, Susan |publisher= San Francisco City Guides |access-date= September 30, 2012 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170419051146/http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=1012&submitted=TRUE&srch_text&submitted2&topic=neighborhoods |archive-date= April 19, 2017 |url-status= dead }} and built in 1922,{{cite journal |url= http://www.viamagazine.com/destinations/lombard-street-san-francisco |title= An Honestly Crooked Street |journal= Via Magazine |date=September–October 2001 |first= Darcey |last= Brown-Martin }} was intended to reduce the hill's natural 27 percent grade,{{cite journal |url= http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=1012&submitted=TRUE |last= Saperstein |first= Susan |title= Lombard Street |journal= San Francisco City Guides |access-date= June 22, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140222151901/http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=1012&submitted=TRUE |archive-date= February 22, 2014 |url-status= dead }} which was too steep for most vehicles. The crooked block is about {{convert|600|ft|m}} long ({{convert|412.5|ft|m}} straight line), is one-way (downhill) and is paved with red bricks. The sign at the top recommends {{convert|5|mph|0|abbr=on}}.

The segment normally sees around 250 vehicles per hour, with average daily traffic reaching 2,630 vehicles in 2013. During peak times, vehicles have to wait up to 20 minutes to enter the Crooked Street segment, in a queue that can reach Van Ness Avenue.

To reduce habitual congestion and delays, future visitors may be required to reserve a time and pay a fee to drive down the crooked street.{{Cite web |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Tolls-reservations-for-SF-s-Lombard-Street-14417122.php |title=Tolls, reservations for SF's Lombard Street approved by California lawmakers - SFChronicle.com |date=September 5, 2019 |website=www.sfchronicle.com |language=en-US |access-date=September 8, 2019}}{{Cite web |url=http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Tourists-May-Pay-Tolls-to-Drive-Crooked-San-Francisco-Street-559696711.html |title=Tourists May Pay Tolls to Drive Crooked San Francisco Street |agency=Associated Press |website=NBC Bay Area |language=en |access-date=September 8, 2019}}

The Powell-Hyde cable car stops at the top of the block on Hyde Street.{{cite web |title=Hyde St & Lombard St |url=https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/transit/routes-stops/stops/5078 |publisher=San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency |access-date=September 15, 2015}}

By 2017, the area around the curved segment had become a hot-spot of what has been described as "San Francisco's car break-in epidemic."{{Cite news|url=https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/sf-car-breakins/|title=Breaking down San Francisco's car break-in epidemic|last1=Palomino|first1=Joaquin|date=March 16, 2018|work=The San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=March 19, 2018|last2=O'Neill|first2=Emma|language=en-US|quote=Parts of San Francisco popular with tourists were hit hardest, including Japantown, Civic Center, the famously curvy stretch of Lombard Street, and the Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39 area.|last3=Trumbull|first3=Todd}} This may in part have been due to its heavy traffic and association with tourism.

The Academy of Art University owns and operates a building called Star Hall on the street for housing purposes.{{cite web|url = http://www.academyart.edu/content/dam/assets/pdf/campus_map.pdf |title = Academy of Art University Campus Map |access-date = April 18, 2017 |website = academyart.edu |publisher = Academy of Art University}}

Past residents of Lombard Street include Rowena Meeks Abdy,{{cite web |url= http://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/2/Abdy/Rowena |title= Rowena Meeks F. Abdy American 1887–1945 Biography |publisher= The Annex Galleries |access-date= September 30, 2012}} an early California painter who worked in the style of Impressionism.{{Citation needed|date=February 2018}}

Chase scenes in many films have been filmed on the street, including Good Neighbor Sam, Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine, What's Up, Doc?, and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Lombard Street is also portrayed in the 2015 Pixar film Inside Out, and is referenced by Bill Cosby on his 1965 comedy album Why Is There Air?.

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File:Lombard Street San Francisco no cars.jpg|Looking east down the curvy block of Lombard Street, with the straight section continuing towards Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower

File:Lombard Street - San Francisco.jpg|Looking up Lombard Street

File:Lombard Street (San Francisco) Sign Photowalkabout March 23 2013-8673.jpg|Traffic caution sign at top of switchbacks recommends a top speed of {{convert|5|mph|kph}}

File:LombardStreet.jpg|Cars exit from lowest switchback section

File:Lombard Street San Francisco.jpg|Time-exposure photo at night clearly shows the eight switchbacks

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• Vermont Street, the other San Francisco street claimed to be the "most crooked".{{cite web |url= http://www.aviewoncities.com/sf/lombardstreet.htm |title=Lombard Street, San Francisco |publisher= a view on cities |work= San Francisco |access-date= August 27, 2009}} It has seven turns instead of eight, but its hill is steeper than Lombard's.
• Snake Alley in Burlington, Iowa, once recognized by Ripley's Believe It or Not! as "The Crookedest Street in the World". Like Lombard Street, it has eight turns but over a shorter distance.

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{{Commons category|Lombard Street (San Francisco)}}

{{Attached KML|display=title,inline}}

• [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/culture/detail?entry_id=90856 Tourist Trapped: The Crookedest Street In The World], SFGate Culture Blog
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20140222151901/http://www.sfcityguides.org/public_guidelines.html?article=1012&submitted=TRUE Lombard Street, SF GuideLines] (includes early images)
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130907030130/http://www.sftodo.com/lomabardcrookedstreet.html Lombard Street] on San Francisco To Do

{{Streets in San Francisco}}

Category:Landmarks in San Francisco

Category:Russian Hill, San Francisco

Category:Streets in San Francisco

Category:U.S. Route 101