Beginning the evening of November 11, major changes are coming to Van Ness Avenue that will affect the way people travel on the street for years to come.
Overnight on November 11, southbound Van Ness at Broadway will be reconfigured to allow two dedicated left turn lanes and two southbound lanes. The southbound bus stop at Van Ness and Vallejo was temporarily relocated October 27 in advance of this change.
On Saturday and Sunday, November 12 and 13, left turn lanes will be permanently removed from Van Ness at most intersections. Left turns will only be possible from Van Ness southbound at Broadway or northbound at Lombard. A left turn will also be possible northbound at Hayes for the first six months of construction, but is planned to be removed in April 2017.
Once the left turns have been removed, work will begin in the median. The number of traffic lanes on Van Ness will be reduced from three to two in each direction beginning Monday, November 14. This work will start at Van Ness and Sutter and will expand north and south as workers remove and pave the existing median between Lombard and Mission streets. The median will be rebuilt at the end of construction, including planting 210 trees to replace the 86 that will be removed as part of construction.
Drivers are encouraged to allow for extra travel time and to test new routes before these changes take effect.