Sunday Streets Excelsior #1

March 29th, 2020 | 11:00am – 4:00pm

On March 29, Sunday Streets returns with the first of two annual events along the Excelsior’s main corridor. From Silver to Geneva Avenue, enjoy a car-free Mission Street, filled with open space for all, plus exhibits, live music, free activities and open space from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

With a route over a mile long, a car-dominated roadway transforms into a temporary park, providing plenty of space for residents to roll, walk, bike, exercise or simply hang out. Open streets increase community engagement and foot traffic, showcasing the area for visitors and giving locals a chance to see it in a whole new, walkable light. 

Visit Activity Hubs at the southern and northern ends of the route, and at Persia Triangle, where residents can experience a pop-up community park. Enjoy a Market Square and Picnic Grounds, and pick up a Common Cents Passport at a Sunday Streets Info Booth to get stamped (and win prizes from!) local businesses. And don’t forget to pick up the Explore Local Map for a fun guide to the Excelsior you can use all year long.

“The E” boasts the city’s highest number of families and young people and is also San Francisco’s most diverse. Catch the 14, 49, 29, 44 or 52 bus or walk from Balboa Park or Glen Park BART stations to local eateries, ranging from Mexican, Thai and Korean cuisine to old-school Italian. Take in colorful murals, shop at fresh vegetable markets or check out seasonally-themed windows at neighborhood landmark Central Drug Store. Bring the kids for story time at the library branch or explore nearby McLaren Park.

For Sunday Street Excelsior’s fall event, click here.

TRANSIT & LIVABILITY

A high percentage of school-aged youth and multiple district schools make Muni the schoolbus for many neighborhood youth, and traffic creates busy – and sometimes dangerous – intersections, with both Mission and Geneva Streets identified as Vision Zero high-injury corridors.

At Sunday Streets, the Persia Triangle Pop-Up Park gives residents a feel for what the proposed mini park might look like in a neighborhood with few public plazas and open spaces. Check out Excelsior Action Group for upcoming Friends of Persia Triangle meetings to make the park a year-round community asset.

Car-free streets help envision a safer way for residents to get around. Check out SFMTA’s Mission Street Excelsior Safety Project and Excelsior Neighborhood Traffic Calming Projects for upcoming meetings and feedback sessions.

 

DID YOU KNOW?

On April 15, 1869, the Excelsior Homestead was filed at City Hall. Up to the 1906 earthquake it was a farming neighborhood, populated by Swiss, Irish, Italian Ligurian immigrants, and considered a village.

Along with his daughter Jeanette, Emanuel Lewis – one of the original housing developers in the neighborhood –  named many of the area’s avenues after countries, and its streets after countries’ capital cities.

The Grateful Dead singer/guitarist Jerry Garcia was born and raised in the Excelsior. In 2016, two commemorative plaques were installed on Mission Street at Amazon and at Harrington to honor his musical and family history.

The Alemany Emergency Hospital and Health Center was designed by then-city architect Charles Sawyer and is now a historical landmark. Inside are two frescoes by Bernard Zakheim, a notable artist who studied with Diego Rivera.

Getting There

Livable City encourages biking, walking, or taking public transportation to get to Sunday Streets.

MUNI:  For trip planning and other Muni-related info, go to www.sfmta.com. Visit sfmta.com/alerts the week before the event for updated information on any MUNI lines that will be rerouted during the event.  Bikes are allowed on front racks of buses. The Sunday Streets Excelsior route is served by the following MUNI lines:

  • 14, 49, 14R on Mission
  • 8x, 43, 54, 88 on Geneva
  • 44 on Silver (north of the route)
  • 52 on Mission and Excelsior
  • 29 on Persia and Mission
  • J, K, M rail lines on San Jose (approximately ½ mile west of the route)

Visit sfmta.com/alerts the week before the event for updated information on any MUNI lines that will be rerouted during the event. The following MUNI line will be re-routed from the normal route during Sunday Streets but still provide access near to the route:

  • 14 re-routed from Mission St to Alemany
  • 29 re-routed from Mission St (between Geneva and Persia),  exact reroute TBD
  • 49 re-routed from Mission St (between Ocean and Theresa), exact reroute TBD
  • 52 re-routed from Mission St (between Excelsior and Brazil), exact reroute TBD

BART: Take BART to the Balboa Park or Glen Park BART stations. The Balboa Park station is about a 10 minute walk from the southern end of the Sunday Streets route, while the Glen Park station is about a 10 minute walk from the northern end of the route. Bikes are allowed on BART trains at all times. For trip planning, go to www.bart.gov. For more information about bikes on BART, go to www.bart.gov/guide/bikes.

BIKE: Get in the spirit for Sunday Streets by biking there! Go to:  www.sfbike.org to download a bike map to help find a flat, bike-friendly route from your area or the nearest transit stop to Sunday Streets. Got a long way to go? Shorten the trip by taking transit part of the way. Muni buses have bike racks for 2 bikes, BART and Caltrain both allow bikes on board. For more information about bikes on BART, go to www.bart.gov/guide/bikes.

By Car: Should you choose to drive, be aware that the Sunday Streets route is towed of all vehicles beginning at 8am and no stopping or parking is allowed on the streets after that (even if you’re just stopping for a moment for a cup of coffee), and no vehicles are allowed to drive onto the route after 10:00am.

Should you choose to drive, check out SFPark.org and parkme.com to identify available parking lots and spaces nearby.

Detours and Parking Changes

TOWING: The Sunday Streets route is towed of all vehicles beginning at 8am. Including the following streets:

  • Mission St. from Avalon/Theresa to Geneva Ave.
  • Ocean Ave between Persia and Mission St.
  • First two parking spaces west of Mission on Francis, Cotter, Santa Rosa, Onondaga, and Seneca Ave.

No parking or stopping will be allowed on these streets after 8am (even if you’re just stopping for a quick cup of coffee, your car may be towed).

DETOURS & LOCAL ACCESS: Streets close to vehicle traffic starting at 10:00 am, and remain closed to vehicle traffic until 4pm.

  • Vehicle traffic will be allowed to cross the Sunday Streets route via Ocean/Persia Ave
  • East/westbound traffic should use Ocean/Persia Ave to cross the route, or Geneva or Silver Aves to go around it.
  • North/southbound traffic should use Alemany Blvd or London St.

If you need vehicle access to/from your home or place of business during this time, please contact us as early as possible. Email SundayStreets@livablecity.org or call 415-344-0489 to coordinate access.