Van Ness Improvement Project provides major upgrades along the corridor
San Francisco— Starting Friday, July 6, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which manages all surface transportation in the city including the Municipal Railway (Muni), will permanently remove the left turn on northbound Van Ness Avenue at Hayes as a part of the Van Ness Improvement Project. Drivers who currently make left turns from Van Ness Avenue onto Hayes are advised to test new routes before the left turns are eliminated.
The project, a major overhaul of Van Ness between Lombard and Mission streets, is bringing safety enhancements, utility replacements and transportation upgrades, including San Francisco’s first Bus Rapid Transit system.
Beginning Friday, July 6, the only left turns allowed from Van Ness will be northbound at Lombard Street and southbound at Broadway. These removals have allowed the SFMTA to re-time traffic signals on Van Ness and neighboring streets to improve traffic flow. The left turn removals also create safer conditions for people walking. Van Ness is part of San Francisco’s High-Injury Network – the 12 percent of city streets that see 70 percent of collisions that result in serious injuries or fatalities. Left turns are one of the leading causes of these collisions.
After left turns have been removed, traffic lanes on northbound Van Ness and South Van Ness avenues, between Mission and McAllister streets, will be shifted slightly on the morning of July 12 to make room to extend the two construction zones. The construction zone on the western side of Van Ness Avenue will extend from Sutter to Mission streets and on the eastern side of Van Ness Avenue from Lombard to Sutter. In these areas, parking is limited and colored curb zones and bus stops will be relocated.
Crews are replacing the 1800s-era water and sewer systems beneath Van Ness, reducing their vulnerability to damage from earthquakes and minimizing potential service outages. Portions of the emergency firefighting water system, which supplies more than 1,200 fire hydrants through San Francisco, will also be overhauled, new street and sidewalk lighting and landscaping will be installed. This work is projected to continue into mid-2020.
For more project details and to sign up for construction updates, please visit sfmta.com/vanness.