Your one-seat ride from the beach to downtown is back!
As we look ahead to the new year, we're excited to cheer on a new chapter for Taraval Street.
The L Taraval Improvement Project has made Muni service safer and more reliable on Taraval Street. This multiagency project has also increased accessibility and replaced decades-old infrastructure.
Our new video, “A Better Safer Taraval,” shares how community members and city agencies worked together to improve the corridor.
It's a great chance to take a virtual ride along Taraval before you board the L. You’ll see what we upgraded with city partners. You’ll also learn about the history of public transit in the area. Best of all: you’ll hear from residents and business owners who saw the whole project take shape.
Welcoming visitors to Taraval’s vibrant businesses
“I’m super excited for what it means to bring other people back to our neighborhood,” says Ron Mandel, a local resident. “We have a lot of really interesting shops and restaurants."
Albert Chow, local business owner and People of Parkside Sunset president, agrees. “I love the fact that it’s not a monocultural street – it's multicultural,” Chow says. “We’ve got Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, French, Italian. We’ve got Irish. We’ve... got a lot of good mix on this street of restaurants."
Thanks to corridor upgrades, it’s now safer and easier than ever to reach Taraval businesses.
Improving safety for everyone on the corridor
The L Taraval Improvement Project included a range of safety and reliability upgrades:
- 17,575 feet of upgraded sewer lines
- 31,390 feet of water lines replaced
- 20,586 feet of tracks replaced
- 22 new or extended boarding platforms
- 11 pedestrian bulb-outs
- 5 transit priority signals
- High-visibility crosswalks and curb ramps
- Safe boarding islands and accessible platforms
One major difference: people getting off the L train no longer have to walk directly into traffic. Now, riders exit onto large boarding platforms before they face cars and other vehicles.
“When my kids were really young, it was hard because they would want to plunge off that train straight into the street,” says Jan Chong, a local resident.
"Now, we have this beautiful platform that’s a lot broader,” Chong explains. “So, when they are excited to get off the train and get home, I feel a lot better about them jumping straight off the train.”
We’re thrilled to see how the project has helped people who live and run businesses along the corridor. The work truly took a village.
As we celebrate this new chapter for Taraval, we're grateful to the people who made it possible.
Grateful to our many partners
We want to thank all of our project partners for their input and patience.
Community members
We want to thank the local businesses, residents and People of Parkside Sunset (POPS) organization for their patience. Community members from each of these groups provided us with valuable feedback. It helped us identify design issues we had not predicted. It ensured we could quickly address any problems during construction.
We are also grateful to the current and former district supervisors. This includes Joel Engardio, Myrna Melgar, Gordon Mar, Norman Yee and Katy Tang. Their support was critical from planning to construction.
Crews pour concrete for track replacement work along Taraval.
Construction partners and specialists
We worked with multiple city agencies on the L Taraval Improvement Project. This included the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Public Works and contractor NTK Construction. Our partners and specialty contractors played a pivotal role.
Together, they coordinated construction and shared resources to replace and improve infrastructure. This included work on our overhead contact system and boarding islands. It also covered streetlight installation, road repaving and track installation.
Our operators and track engineers carefully inspected trains before they went back into service.
Throughout the process, our construction teams worked to reduce impacts and complete tasks on time and on budget. They acted on community concerns by modifying construction schedules and design elements. For example, they adjusted construction during holidays to ensure the area had as much parking available as possible.
We want to thank Taraval business owners for their patience and partnership.
Partnering to support small businesses
We recognize that long-term construction projects can have major impacts on the people who live and work near them. That’s why we’re grateful businesses on Taraval worked closely with us during construction.
To support merchants, we partnered with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development on marketing activities.
- “Open for Business:” This campaign kept the Taraval area a destination. It also reminded customers that their favorite shops and restaurants were open.
- Shop Taraval: This business directory makes it easy for people to learn about shopping and dining options along Taraval Street.
Our agency also produced a “Go Local” campaign. This campaign invites people to shop, dine and explore businesses in the Parkside and Outer Sunset neighborhoods.
Now that construction is complete, Taraval is expected to enjoy safer and more reliable transportation. And that can boost economic growth for new and existing businesses.
When asked about his favorite part of the project, Chow joked: “that it’s over!”
But he went on from there. “What I am most excited about is the street is now beautified. We have new paved roads and rails, new lighting, new boarding islands.”
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