If the Golden Gate celebrates its 85th anniversary, the emblematic street of the metropolis celebrates its 100th anniversary this year.
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The winding section of Lombard Street in San Francisco, one of the most famous zigzag streets in the world, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. It is on Russian Hill and stretches for a block between Hyde Street and Leavenworth Street. At this location, Lombard Street was, after its construction, one of the steepest streets in the city, with a gradient of 27%. At the time, the street ran up the hill in a straight line, which was impassable and problematic for cars. It was therefore rebuilt and its serpentine layout reduced the slope to 18 degrees. Since 1922, Lombard Street has been a one-way street that descends 145 meters in eight bends. The section paved in red is passable only in one direction: downwards. Up to 350 vehicles per hour use this single-lane street, many of them holidaymakers. Pedestrians can take stairs in either direction on steep Lombard Street. The spaces between the zigzags of the roadway are planted with many flowers, so that the street is framed almost all year round by a veritable sea of flowers. Lombard Street is one of San Francisco's best-known streets – but it's not the steepest or the windiest. The superlative 'steep' can be attributed to Filbert Street, which runs parallel to Lombard Street, between Hyde and Leavenworth Street, and has a 31.5% gradient. However, this street does not have any switchbacks. The windiest street in the city is Vermont Street, in the Potrero Hill neighborhood. It has five bends over a length of only 85 meters. The complete Lombard Street, 4.5 kilometers long, runs east to west from Presidio to Telegraph Hill, thus crossing San Francisco. It is the continuation of Highway 101, which leads from the Golden Gate Bridge to the city. He is celebrating his 85th birthday this year.
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