Over the next several weeks, San Francisco drivers and Muni riders should prepare for street closures and bus detours as the city begins major construction on several projects in Chinatown.
The city’s Public Works department is leading three major projects in Chinatown, including renovations to Portsmouth Square Park, the Chinatown/Him Mark Lai Branch Library, and the Chinatown Public Health Center. Some of the projects will require partial and full street closures, as well as detours of Muni routes.
As part of the Portsmouth Square Park project, crews will begin demolishing the pedestrian bridge that connects the park to the Hilton hotel. The demolition will require two weekend closures of Kearny Street between Clay and Washington streets. The first weekend closure will take place from 1 a.m. Aug. 1 until 5 a.m. Aug. 3, Public Works said. A second weekend closure will take place Aug. 8–10.
The Portsmouth Square Garage will be closed during the full weekend closures. Instead, drivers are recommended to park at the St. Mary’s Garage. Muni’s 8-Bayshore will detour around the construction and will not stop at Kearny and Clay streets. Riders instead will need to board at Clay and Montgomery streets.
During the partial weekday street closure from Aug. 3–7, the 8-Bayshore bus stop at Kearny and Clay streets will be unavailable and riders will be redirected to a temporary stop at Kearny and Commercial streets.
Traffic detours will be in place during the full weekend closures, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Northbound traffic on Kearny Street will be rerouted to westbound on Sacramento Street, to northbound on Stockton Street, to eastbound on Jackson Street, and then finally back onto northbound Kearny Street.
A second detour will be in place that reroutes northbound traffic onto eastbound Clay Street, to northbound on Sansome Street, to westbound on Washington Street and back onto Kearny Street.
There are also partial street closures on Kearny Street from July 29–31, Aug. 3–7 and Aug. 10–15. At least two lanes of traffic will be open during the partial street closures and at Portsmouth Square.
The city anticipates the completion of the Portsmouth Square Park project by mid-2028. City officials broke ground on the project in June.
Broadway Tunnel closure
As part of the seismic upgrade work of the Chinatown Public Health Center, which sits atop of the Broadway Tunnel, the tunnel will need to be closed from 7 a.m. Aug. 15 to 5 a.m. Aug. 17. A partial closure of the tunnel will then take place from Aug. 17, 2026 through October 2027.
During the full closure, the SFMTA has provided a map of detours for drivers getting around the area.
During the partial closure, Public Works said crews will reconfigure one bore at a time to accommodate two-way traffic with one lane in each direction.
The anticipated competition date of the Chinatown Health Center is spring 2029.
More information about all the projects, street closures, and traffic detours can be found on the SFMTA website. The public can also sign up for construction updates through email.
