FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 4, 2021
Contact: Erica Kato
Mediarelations@sfmta.com

San Francisco–The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) releases the following upcoming event-related traffic and transit impacts for this weekend, from Friday, March 5 through Sunday, March 7, 2021 .

For real-time updates, follow us on https://twitter.com/sfmta_muni or visit SFMTA.com/EmailText to sign up for real-time text messages or email alerts.

For details of Muni re-routes, visit SFMTA.com/Updates. This website will be updated when it is closer to the event date.

For additional notifications and agency updates, subscribe to our blog, Moving SF for daily or weekly updates.

Federal Law Requires Face Masks on Muni

To help stop the spread of COVID-19, federal law requires wearing a mask in Muni stations, when purchasing a ticket and while waiting for, boarding, riding or exiting transit. Masks are also required on paratransit and in taxis. Violations can result in denial of boarding or removal from Muni and may carry federal penalties. Masks do not include face shields and should be a solid piece of material without slits, exhalation valves, or punctures. Face coverings like scarves and bandanas do not meet this requirement. For more information, please visit sfmta.com/COVID.

CONSTRUCTION WORK AND OTHER UPDATES

UPDATE: Van Ness Improvement Project

Friday, March 5, between the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m.: Crews are scheduled to work on traffic improvements, remaining sewer work, overhead power installations, light pole setting and related work at the following locations:

• Van Ness between Francisco and Chestnut streets
• Van Ness between Chestnut and Lombard streets

Work that requires reducing Van Ness Avenue to one lane in each direction will be limited to nighttime hours. Construction scheduling is subject to change due to weather delays or unexpected field conditions. For more project details and the latest construction updates, visit SFMTA.com/VanNess.

UPDATE: L Taraval Improvement Project

Starting on Monday, March 15 and will continue for about eight days, street repaving will take place on Taraval Street progressively from Sunset Boulevard to 46^th Avenue. Traffic control including temporary street closures and parking restrictions will apply where work is occurring. To accommodate the paving and street repair work, the L bus service will be rerouted onto Ulloa Street starting on Monday, March 8 . Temporary bus stops can be found on Ulloa Street parallel to the stops on Taraval Street.

Since Friday, Jan. 22, track replacement work started on Taraval Street between 40^th and 41^st avenues. For track replacement work, traffic is being detoured at the intersections of 40^th and 41^st avenues at all times of the day until track replacement work along these segments are complete. During active construction hours, parking on both sides of the blocks will be temporarily restricted to give the crew the safety clearance they need to demo and replace the aged tracks in the center of the road and allow eastbound/westbound vehicular traffic. Parking will be returned at the end of each workday along the impacted blocks.

Since Aug. 2019, the traffic pattern on lower Great Highway between Ulloa and Santiago streets has been changed. The northbound travel lane on lower Great Highway has been rerouted to 48th Avenue for two blocks between Ulloa and Santiago streets. The southbound travel lane will continue on lower Great Highway as usual. This will be in effect until project completion in fall 2021. For project details, visit SFMTA.com/LTaraval Project.

ONGOING

ONGOING: Muni Service During the COVID-19 Shelter-In-Place Order

Until further notice, Muni buses will continue to serve the K Ingleside, L Taraval, M Ocean View and N Judah Metro lines.

To learn more information about bus substitution for Muni rail lines visit Muni’s Bus Substitution for All Rail Lines. For information about upcoming service changes, read our latest service change blog.

Some Muni routes have been modified under the current health order. For details of Muni’s individual lines/routes, visit each route’s webpage or the Muni Core Service Plan.

• Core Routes in Service: J Church (Balboa Park to Church & Duboce streets); K Ingleside (Balboa Park to Embarcadero); T Third (Sunnydale to Embarcadero); L Taraval Bus (all buses) (SF Zoo to Embarcadero); N Judah Bus (Ocean Beach to 4th and King streets); M Ocean View Bus (Balboa Park to West Portal); 1 California; 5 Fulton; 7 Noriega; 8 Bayshore (rerouted to Stockton); 9 San Bruno, 9R San Bruno Rapid (weekday only); 12 Folsom/Pacific (Financial District to Russian Hill), 14 Mission; 14R Mission Rapid; 15 Bayview-Hunters Point Express; 19 Polk; 22 Fillmore; 24 Divisadero; 25 Treasure Island; 27 Bryant (modified route); 28 19th Avenue (Daly City BART to California Street & 6^th Avenue); 29 Sunset; 30 Stockton; 33 Ashbury-18th Street; 37 Corbett (Twin Peaks and Van Ness & Market Street); 38 Geary; 38R Geary Rapid; 43 Masonic (Geary Boulevard to Crocker Amazon) ; 44 O’Shaughnessy; 45 Union-Stockton; 48 Quintara/24th Street (20th at 3rd streets and West Portal Station); 49 Van Ness/Mission (extended from North Point to Powell and Beach); 54 Felton (Daly City BART to Hunters Point); 55 Dogpatch; and 67 Bernal Heights.
• Late-night Owl routes start at 10 p.m. (instead of 1 a.m.) All regular Owl routes are in operation, except 5 Fulton and 48 Quintara/24th Street.
• The following routes are running 24 hours a day or providing special Owl Service: L Owl; N Owl; 14 Mission; 22 Fillmore; 24 Divisadero; 25 Treasure Island; 38 Geary; 44 O’Shaughnessy; 90 San Bruno Owl; 91 3rd Street/19th Avenue Owl.

ONGOING: Geary Rapid Project

As part of Verizon’s private facility expansion, excavation is planned within the project limits of the City’s Geary Rapid Project, which includes water main replacement and surface transportation improvements such as sidewalk extensions at intersection corners.

The following construction forecast is subject to change due to weather delays or unexpected field conditions:

From Saturday, Feb. 20 through Saturday, March 13, between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. (on Saturdays only):
In preparation for the installation of conduits for future fiber-optic cables, crews will perform “potholing” – digging small exploratory holes to verify the locations of existing underground utilities in order to minimize potential conflicts.

There may be partial lane closures and temporary parking restrictions as a result of this work.

ONGOING: 19th Avenue (CA Route 1) Combined City Project

San Francisco Public Works is leading a multi-agency project to replace aging infrastructure and improve safety along 19^th Avenue between Holloway Avenue and Lincoln Way.

Construction work for the first segment of this project along 19th Avenue between Lincoln Way and Noriega Street has begun.

As part of the 19th Avenue Combined City Project , the SFMTA will implement transit priority and safety improvements for people walking along the route of the 28 19th Avenue. The improvements will make it safer to walk, remove stops to make transit service more reliable, and enhance customers’ experiences—on and off the bus.

To improve safety along 19^th Avenue, the SFMTA will: 1) install pedestrian bulbs at 19 intersections and transit bulbs at 13 intersections; 2) modify traffic and pedestrian signals to give people who walk more time to cross the street; and 3) extend the bus zone at one intersection. Installing transit bulbs allow Muni vehicles to stop for passengers without having to pull out of traffic, and pedestrian bulbs increase the visibility at intersections of people who walk.

As part of the project, seven Muni stops were removed on 19th Avenue between Irving Street and Ocean Avenue on Oct. 17. The following Muni routes have been affected with the stop removal:

• 28 19th Avenue
• 91 3rd Street/19th Avenue Owl

To find additional information about the transit reliability and pedestrian safety components, visit sfmta.com/28Rapid. For overall project information, visit sfpublicworks.org/19th-Avenue.

ONGOING: Shared Spaces Program

The city’s multi-agency Shared Spaces program opened some parts of streets in San Francisco to create public space for outdoor dining, retail and physical distancing. The program allows the use of sidewalks, full or partial streets, or other nearby public spaces like parks and plazas for restaurant pick-up and other neighborhood retail activity, as allowed by San Francisco’s Public Health Order. For details, locations and updates on street closures related to Shared Spaces visit SFMTA.com/SharedSpaces.

ONGOING: Essential Trip Card Discount Program

The SFMTA’s temporary special program, Essential Trip Card (ETC) Program, will assist people with disabilities and older adults to make essential trips under Muni’s temporary transit changes. The program provides two to three round trips at an 80% discount per month, i.e. rider pays $6 to receive a value of $30 or pays $12 to receive a $60 value. The discount is limited to a value of $60 taxi service per month per customer.

To qualify for the program: customer must be either age 65 or older or an adult with disabilities. Eligible adults may apply for the ETC program by calling 311 and mentioning the program. Staff will be available between 9 a.m. and 4:45 p.m., Monday through Friday. Visit https://www.sfmta.com/etc for additional details and for a list of San Francisco taxi companies, visit https://www.sfmta.com/taxi/directory.

SFMTA’s pre-existing Shop-a-Round program that offers registered seniors and people with disabilities personalized assistance and rides to and from grocery stores and farmers markets is still available and will continue post public health order. For more information, visit https://www.sfmta.com/shop-round.

Stay safe!