Broadway Tunnel construction to snarl traffic for 14 months
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The Robert C. Levy Tunnel, better known by all of us as the Broadway Tunnel. Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
Another traffic headache is settling in for anyone trying to get between Russian Hill, North Beach and Chinatown anytime soon.
State of play: The Broadway Tunnel this week entered a long stretch of construction that's expected to snarl traffic for the next 14 months.
- The tunnel will remain open throughout the project — just at half its usual capacity.
- One tunnel bore will carry all traffic, with a single lane open in each direction. The first phase closes the eastbound tunnel for about seven months before crews swap sides, CBS News reports.
The big picture: The tunnel is a major east-west connection across the city's northeast side and the lane reductions could mean backups spilling onto nearby streets, particularly during rush hour, when traffic is already at its heaviest.
Zoom in: The disruption is largely tied to the city's $76 million renovation of the Chinatown Public Health Center, which sits above the tunnel's eastern entrance.
- The '70s-era health center is considered the most seismically vulnerable facility in San Francisco's public health network, per the city's Public Works department.
- Since the building and tunnel share structural elements, crews need access underground to carry out the seismic upgrades.
- The tunnel itself is also getting improvements, including brighter lighting, new wall and ceiling tiles and upgrades to its roadway and pedestrian paths, per SFGATE. (So overall, less of that liminal nightmare, dystopian passageway kind-of-vibe.)
Catch up quick: If the Broadway Tunnel has ever given you the creeps, you're not alone. The narrow walkways and amplified roar of passing cars have helped earn it a reputation as one of San Francisco's scariest places to bike or walk.
- Fittingly, the tunnel also made a cameo in the 1978 sci-fi horror classic "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
Zoom out: The construction comes amid a particularly busy stretch for Chinatown, where the city is also renovating Portsmouth Square and the Chinatown/Him Mark Lai Branch Library.
What's next: The project is expected to wrap up next October.
The bottom line: Give yourself extra time if you're driving through this part of town — especially during peak hours — or consider taking public transit.