Valencia Streetscape Project

Valencia Street is a vibrant corridor with restaurants, shops, art galleries, and other establishments that are frequented by thousands of people every day. Public Works and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) teamed up to create a vision to improve the area with the goal of providing residents and visitors with safe and easy access to businesses, schools, shopping and regional transit connections. A robust envisioning process was undertaken to ensure the participation of the community and incorporation of their feedback into the final plan. The Valencia Streetscape Improvements project was successfully completed in July 2010.

Phase One of the Valencia Streetscape Improvement Project included removal of the striped center median, sidewalk widening, bulb-outs, more accommodating curbside loading zones for trucks, improved traffic, parking and bicycle lane alignments, the removal of the striped center median, pedestrian scale lighting, art elements, bike racks, and new street trees.

The project included the replacement and addition of 76,000 square feet of sidewalk and the installation of pedestrian bulbouts to provide traffic calming, facilitate street crossing and add space for gathering. Additional improvements included the planting of 106 Brisbane Box and London Plane trees along the sidewalks, new trash receptacles, 69 bike racks, 32 wheel chair accessible curb ramps, 26 roadway-scale lights and 46 pedestrian-scale lights. Four Victorian-themed street posts, uniquely designed for Valencia Street through the San Francisco Arts Commission, were also installed. A public art feature entitled 'Valencia Street Post' was installed by artist Michael Arcega.

The project was funded through a combination of a multi-year federal transportation bill called the Safe Accountable Flexible Efficient Transportation Equity Act ("SAFETEA") and two Transportation for Livable Communities (TLC) federal grants with local matching funds.