L-Taraval Improvement Project Update from SFMTA

By Sunset Beacon on August 2, 2019 • ( 1 Comment )

Press Release from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), August 1, 2019.

Dear Neighbors,

Thank you for attending our L-Taraval Improvement Project Open House on Wednesday, July 17, 2019 and sharing your feedback with us. At the open house, two potential equipment layout plans were presented for the community to vote on. Community members in attendance requested staff to look into a potential option C for the layout plan. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is committed to working with the Taraval Parkside community and instructed staff to conduct a feasibility study for Option C: SF Zoo Parking Lot on Sloat Boulevard. After much time and analysis of this location, our findings indicate that option C would not be viable for several reasons.

First and foremost, the construction equipment staging area must meet the work requirement of at least 1000 feet long to accommodate the rail welding operations and the staging of heavy equipment. The SF Zoo parking lot does not meet this length requirement.
The zoo parking lot has two entrances/exits but to accommodate construction work, one of the entrances will need to be closed for construction use only. This leaves the lot with only one of two entrances available to them which is not acceptable for emergency egress and access needs.
In regard to noise impact, we took into account the distance from the SF Zoo to the immediate work site which is 2500 ft. The drag of the rail will go through 2500 ft of roadway through the lower Great Highway neighborhood at 3 m.p.h. This will create unwelcomed noise for neighbors along the entire distance at night time.
Heavy equipment traveling back and forth between Taraval and the parking lot throughout the length of construction will also bring more disturbance to the neighborhood.
Additionally, the traveling of such long distance will also increase handling and traveling time for the dragging of the rails.
More trucking and handling of the rails will be needed which will increase the time and cost for material handling tremendously.
The cost of the project will increase substantially as well as the project time for completion.
Lastly, the dragging of the rail across the parking lot and through the 2500 ft distance will cause significant damage to the parking lot and roadway. This will require additional repair and replacement of the pavement along lower Great Highway after the project is complete.

The SFMTA would like to thank the community for your patience while we conducted the feasibility study for option C. Based on our analysis, option C is not a viable option. SFMTA will resume in collecting votes for Option A or B immediately. You are encouraged to cast your vote as soon as possible. We hope that you can join us at the upcoming community meeting on August 9, 2019 from 5:30 to 7:30pm at 3201 Ulloa Street, Grace Lutheran Church for an informational session on staging areas. The votes will be concluded at the end of the meeting. After the result is available, we will announce the option that is selected on our project page, SFMTA.com/LTaravalProject.

If you are unable to attend the meeting, there is still an opportunity to vote for your preferred plan by August 9. Diagrams of the option plans can be accessed at SFMTA.com/LTaravalSurvey. Your vote must include your full name and address for it to count. There are four ways to do so: