Susan Kolander spent her weekend commuting two blocks to a construction zone at the corner of Kearny and Washington streets. She was there at 9:09 a.m. Saturday when a hydraulic breaker poked the first hole through the Portsmouth Square footbridge, and four trips later she was there at 10:48 a.m. Sunday when the remains of the concrete structure were pushed onto the sidewalk exposing tangles of Rebar.
For the first time since 1972 Kolander, a native San Franciscan, could see daylight on the block of Kearny between Washington and Clay streets, in Chinatown. The Bridge to Nowhere, as the pedestrian overcrossing was often known, had finally gone back to where it belonged.
“It was kind of a landmark so it is a little sad to see it gone,” said Kolander, who documented the weekend removal with more than 60 action shots on her iPhone. “But now that it’s down and the street is opened up, you can see all the way down Kearny. Even the Hilton looks better now that you can see it in the sunlight.”…