SUMMER 2024 UPDATE
The SFMTA, in collaboration with Public Works and the Port of San Francisco, is advancing the design of the Central Embarcadero Safety Project. The project will make roadway and promenade safety fixes, multimodal transit access upgrades, and streetscape changes to Central Embarcadero, from Broadway to Brannan streets.
Based on the success of prior quick-build efforts, which created a two-way, waterside protected bikeway from Broadway to Folsom Street using relatively low-cost changes and materials, the Central Embarcadero Safety Project will:
- extend the protected bikeway, from Folsom south to Brannan street, with improved connectivity to/from the SOMA and Mission Rock neighborhoods
- enhance pedestrian comfort, accessibility, and wayfinding measures along the promenade and at key crossings of the bikeway/Embarcadero roadway
- improve rail network safety and operations, especially at the Folsom portal
- add to the corridor’s existing real-time wayfinding and messaging system with a new sign near Washington Street
The project is currently in the detailed design phase with the goal of reaching the 65% design milestone in early 2025 and final design/approvals in mid 2025. The construction phase is considered fully funded with $8.32m in outside grants (including One Bay Area and Safe Routes to BART funding) and is expected to start in early 2026.
For more information, please refer to the project's frequently asked questions document.
The Central Embarcadero Safety Project is the latest phase of the Embarcadero Enhancement Program. This program seeks to improve safety, mobility, connectivity, and accessibility for all users of The Embarcadero, which serves as a major transit corridor, tourist destination, marine-oriented commercial district, and public recreation area. The Embarcadero is also a key route into San Francisco’s major business and cultural sites such as the Financial District, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Chinatown.
In partnership with the Port of San Francisco, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) spent years engaging with stakeholder groups and the broader public to envision a better, safer Embarcadero. In 2018, this process culminated in a concept design that includes a new two-way protected bikeway and pedestrian safety improvements. Since 2020, the SFMTA has completed several Quick-Build Projects to implement this design.
The SFMTA and Port are now working on the Central Embarcadero segment between Broadway and Brannan Street to enhance and extend these improvements. Work along the Southern Embarcadero (south of Brannan Street) will be coordinated with future waterfront development projects. Northern Embarcadero (north of Broadway) will undergo additional public outreach and analysis with a smaller quick-build effort in 2025 and longer-term planning via the forthcoming Embarcadero Connectivity Plan.
VISION ZERO
The Embarcadero corridor (between Lombard and Townsend streets) is also on San Francisco’s Vision Zero High Injury Network (HIN), representing the 13% of city streets where 75% of the severe and fatal injuries occur. From Spring 2019 to Spring 2024, there were 113 reported severe injury or fatal collisions on the corridor (along with daily ‘near misses’ on the street and along the promenade).
By adopting a policy called Vision Zero in 2014, the City and County of San Francisco is committed to building better and safer streets, educating the public on traffic safety, enforcing traffic laws, and prioritizing resources to implement effective initiatives that save lives. Vision Zero aims to eliminate all traffic deaths in San Francisco by 2024. The SFMTA prioritizes efforts on the corridors with the highest number of severe and fatal collisions.
The Embarcadero Enhancement Program supports Vision Zero and implements targeted, proven safety improvements on the corridor.
PROJECT GOALS
As the Embarcadero continues to evolve to fit the needs of the surrounding areas, so do the City’s values regarding transportation and safety. Busy sidewalks and streets with multiple uses create conflicts, discomfort, and challenges in implementing the Vision Zero Strategy. With those values in mind, the Embarcadero Enhancement Program aims to:
- Safety: Build a safer Embarcadero for all users
- Connectivity: Improve connections between the Embarcadero, nearby neighborhoods, and the region
- Access: Elevate the Embarcadero’s role as a valued destination and workplace for locals, visitors, businesses, maritime and industrial uses
- Economic Recovery: Invest in critical infrastructure to support the renewal and recovery of our City while protecting public health
- Mobility: Providing physical protection and lengthening the bikeway will make it easier to commute and recreate along the waterfront.
PROJECT HISTORY
Stakeholder Engagement
From 2014 to 2018, the Embarcadero Enhancement project team held dozens of in-person meetings with key stakeholders including the Northeast Waterfront Advisory Group, Central Waterfront Advisory Group, Maritime Commerce Advisory Committee, Ballpark Mission Bay Transportation Committee, San Francisco Hotel Council, SF Travel, SF Tour Guide Guild, South Beach/Rincon/Mission Bay Neighborhood Association, District 3 SFMTA Working Group, Fisherman’s Wharf Community Benefit District, Fisherman’s Wharf Restaurant Association, as well as individual stakeholders such as the operators of the Ferry Building, Exploratorium, and many others.
During this time, the project team also hosted five public open meetings, including three design workshops where residents, merchants, travelers, and the general public were invited to share their vision of the waterfront, desires for reconfiguring the roadway, and values relating to transportation, open space, and land use. In 2016, over 500 people attended an open house and responded to a survey to help assess bikeway alignment alternatives and other trade-offs, resulting in a conceptual design for a two-way, waterside-protected bikeway adjacent to the promenade.
In October of 2018, approximately 200 people attended an open house showcasing the conceptual design for the project, with 140 people completing a survey to gauge stakeholder support and priorities for the project moving forward. An outreach summary is available.
Additional stakeholder meetings took place throughout 2019 as the project moved into the preliminary engineering and environmental review phase and further public engagement are ongoing as projects within the three segments of the Embarcadero corridor manifest.
Previous Efforts
Throughout the planning phase of the Embarcadero Enhancement Program, the SFMTA and Port of San Francisco partnered to address safety issues with near-term and operational upgrades wherever possible.
- 2016 - Roadway striping, signs, and parking changes were installed between Howard and 2nd streets, as well as a new bicycle signal at North Point Street. The city also updated crosswalks along much of the corridor with high-visibility striping and advanced stop lines for vehicles, including bicycles, to reduce conflicts at intersections. Improved safety messaging and signs along the shared-use promenade were also installed south of the Ferry Building.
- 2018 – The peak period tow-away restriction between Broadway and Mission Street was removed. This near-term safe improvement allows all-day parking and established a full-time, green-colored bike lane. Vehicle right-turn lanes were provided at Washington and Mission streets to support the continued movement of people and goods.
- Note: With the proposals included with the first phase of the EEP (Central Embarcadero), the southbound bike lane along The Embarcadero from Broadway to Mission will remain. However, two discontinuous segments of the protected bike lanes (north and south of Washington Street) will be converted into buffered bike lanes to accommodate new curbside loading near the Ferry Building.
- 2019 - Important safety fixes to the Sansome/Chestnut streets and Battery Street intersections of The Embarcadero were completed as part of the Sansome and Battery Connections Project. Additional crosswalk upgrades along The Embarcadero (new high-visibility striping, focused between Green and Bay streets) were initiated in 2019 and completed in 2020.
- 2020 - Construction on the Embarcadero 2020 Quick-Build Projects at Pier 35, Ferry Terminal, and in the Rincon Restaurant Zone was completed to expedite safety and mobility improvements. These projects were a critical first step toward achieving the project goals.
- 2022 - Completion of the Central Embarcadero Quick-Build Project, which constructed a two-way separated bikeway on the water side of the Embarcadero between Mission Street and Broadway.
