A Digital Journal - San Francisco Public Works
In the Works
March 2024
San Francisco’s Arbor Day celebration represents the largest street tree-planting event of the year for Public Works and this year, with the help of more than 200 volunteers who teamed up with our urban forestry crews, we added 60 saplings to neighborhood streetscapes during a workday filled with joy and purpose.
FEATURE STORIES
San Francisco Celebrates Arbor Day By Planting 60 New Street Trees
In just one day, hundreds of volunteers working alongside Public Works Bureau of Urban Forestry crews planted 100 new street trees in the City’s Tenderloin, Hayes Valley, Western Addition and NoPa neighborhoods in celebration of Arbor Day.
Play Ball! Repairs Made to Damaged Third Street Bridge
For the first time in a year, pedestrians regained full access to the historic Third Street Bridge after our trades workers completed critical repairs to the storm-battered span in time for the Giants pre-season home opener against the cross-Bay rival Oakland A’s on March 26.
Upper Market Streetscape Improvements Project Wins State Award
The streetscape changes along the stretch of Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and Castro Street brought welcome and meaningful improvements to this well-traveled corridor.
Bloom Loop
San Francisco’s public spaces are bursting to life this month with wildflowers.
It’s About Time!
Twice a year, just like clockwork, Public Works stationary engineers climb a tall ladder to manually adjust the hands on three towering public timepieces along Market Street.
For They Are Jolly Good Fellows: Prestigious Recognition for Two Architects
This month, two Public Works-affiliated architects received one of the profession’s highest honors, bestowed upon them by the American Institute of Architects, the world’s largest design organization.
Volunteers help settle this young Catalina ironwood tree in its new home on a Grove Street sidewalk.
San Francisco Celebrates Arbor Day By Planting
60 New Street Trees
In just one day, hundreds of volunteers working alongside Public Works Bureau of Urban Forestry crews planted 60 new street trees in the City’s Tenderloin, Hayes Valley, Western Addition and NoPa neighborhoods in celebration of Arbor Day.
A row of new street trees takes root on Hayes Street.
Their efforts will provide environmental and community benefits for decades to come.
One of our youngest volunteers gets into the Arbor Day spirit and helps plant a tree on Hayes Street.
Public Works’ annual Arbor Day volunteer workday is our biggest and most ambitious tree-planting event of the year. This year’s took place on March 9, drawing 225 volunteers – a mix of residents, community groups, nonprofit partners and department staff who pitched in on their day off. We were joined at the kickoff by Mayor London Breed and Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Dean Preston.
Mayor London Breed, joined by Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Dean Preston, kicks off the City’s Arbor Day celebration before the crowd heads out to plant 100 new street trees.
In addition to adding more trees to the urban landscape, Public Works hosted a family-fun Arbor Day Fair with plenty of hands-on activities that delighted folks of all ages.
The annual Arbor Day Fair has lots of fun activities on tap for folks of all ages.
“These are the types of events that really make our department special – they strengthen our connection with the communities we serve, encourage us to come together in a joyful environment and make our City a more welcoming place for all,” said Public Works Director Carla Short, who sported a tree costume for the event.
Is she the Public Works director or a tree? On Arbor Day, Carla Short (right) is both.
Breonna McCree – co-executive director of the Transgender District, the nation’s first transgender district, located in the Tenderloin – expressed the community’s appreciation for the annual tree-planting effort.
“This addresses our area’s minimal tree canopy but also symbolizes a step toward environmental equity,” McCree said.
First-time Arbor Day volunteer Bobby Gonzalez showed up with a college classmate to plant trees on the 1800 block of Fillmore Street. “I am a San Francisco native and love contributing to my city,” said Gonzalez, who is studying architecture at Yale University. “We’re on spring break and wanted to contribute.”
Prepping for Arbor Day
Months in the planning, the Arbor Day tree-planting operation is executed over several days each March. First, Urban Forestry inspectors visited prospective planting sites and assessed them for tree viability. Then, our cement masons saw cut new tree basins in the sidewalk and arborists pruned dead tree roots if a tree had been planted previously at the location.
Lastly, landscape gardeners went out to do a final check to ensure the basins were ready to welcome new trees, meaning the existing soil had been rejuvenated with fertile soil and softened to make it easier for volunteers to dig the hole and plant the tree.
Public Works Urban Forestry Inspector Allegra Mautner readies trees for the Arbor Day planting.
Bureau of Urban Forestry gardeners and inspectors labeled and organized each tree so that it made it to its proper tree basin. The day before the big event, the team was busy loading trucks with the trees, organized by their planting locations and species, among them magnolia, Catalina ironwood and Persian ironwood.
“We’re almost loaded up with our trees,” said gardener John Dixon, pausing from his work at the Public Works Operations Yard in the Bayview. “It’s the best part of the year for us. Arbor Day is a way of us giving back and enhancing the City and making it look beautiful. It’s a good time for us to show our skills and show what we’re all about with BUF landscape.”
The 60 trees were planted in several pockets in District 5 neighborhoods, including Ellis and Jones streets, Hayes Street between Clayton and Ashbury streets, Geary Boulevard and Leavenworth Street, Buchanan and Fell streets, Hayes and Fillmore streets and Cole and Grove streets. They were grown at our new Street Tree Nursery on Fifth Street in the South of Market.
Benefits of Trees
These newly planted trees, once they grow big and strong, will absorb stormwater runoff, reduce air pollution, combat climate change and provide wildlife habitat and cooling shade. Plus, they bring a much-welcomed splash of living beauty to the District 5 neighborhoods, which have one of the lowest percentages of tree canopy coverage in the City. Public Works aims to plant dozens more street trees in the Tenderloin and other District 5 neighborhoods over the next year.
Volunteers make sure the roots of this young tree aren’t too compacted before going into the ground.
City Architect Ron Alameida (center) joins a team to plant trees on Hayes Street.
This year marks the 152nd anniversary of Arbor Day, an annual event observed internationally to pay tribute to the beauty and environmental benefits of trees. As caretaker of San Francisco’s 125,000-plus street trees under the voter-approved StreetTreeSF program, Public Works is committed to growing the City’s urban forest and ensuring it thrives.
Family-Fun Fair
Even though the sun was shining, a rainbow emerged at the Arbor Day Fair face-painting station.
The Arbor Day Fair, held this year on the New Traditions Elementary School campus in NoPa and organized by the Public Works Community Engagement team, featured interactive information booths and activities, including earth worm composting, face painting and the extremely popular bucket truck rides offered by Public Works arborists. Also on hand was a small herd of hay-munching goats, delighting visitors of all ages.
A small herd of grazing goats came out to enjoy the goings-on at the Arbor Day Fair.
Another crowd favorite: planter box building. Our carpenters set up shop where (mostly) kids – wielding hammers and nails – turned pieces of pre-cut wood into nifty Public Works-branded planter boxes. Once built, the folks could hit the next station, staffed by our landscape crews, to plant succulents and fragrant mint, rosemary, thyme and cilantro plants to bring home.
caption.
Public Works carpenters staff the popular planter box-building station.
Jackson Armstrong, who turns 5 in May, accompanied his big sister and parents to his first Public Works Arbor Day Fair and bubbled with an ear-to-ear smile. “I said hi and stuff like that to a nice goat,” he said. But the coolest part of his day was joining his dad on a bucket truck ride that took them 30-plus feet in the air. “I touched the sky!”
Whee! Bucket truck rides, operated by Public Works Bureau of Urban Forestry staff, give folks a bird’s-eye view of NoPa and surrounding neighborhoods.
Tethered to the bridge’s main frame, Public Works crews attach new beams to the east-side of the span.
Play Ball! Repairs Made to Damaged Third Street Bridge
For the first time in a year, pedestrians regained full access to the historic Third Street Bridge after our trades workers completed critical repairs to the storm-battered span in time for the Giants pre-season home opener against the cross-Bay rival Oakland A’s on March 26.
Portions of the bridge’s east-side pedestrian wooden walkway, handrails and steel support beams needed to be replaced after privately owned barges became untethered from a nearby pier during a severe storm last March and slammed into the bridge causing significant damage. The traffic lanes on the Depression-era drawbridge remained open to vehicles and bikes, and people still could walk on the western pathway.
This is what the historic span looked like after getting rammed by a barge during a March 2023 storm.
Thankfully, the underlying structure and drawbridge mechanics remained intact and passed inspection by structural and specialty bridge engineers.
The needed repairs, however, took methodical planning and extensive work, requiring the skilled labor of Public Works sheet metal workers, steamfitters, painters, electricians and carpenters. The work was performed both in the shops at the Public Works Operations Yard in the Bayview neighborhood and on site at the bridge, with our crews latched onto the steel frame using harnesses as they worked above the choppy water.
Working above Mission Creek Channel, steamfitters Harrish Singh (left) and Larry Daniels make sure the steel beams are properly secured.
Additional inspections were required to ensure the work meets all safety codes and standards.
The Public Works team also included stationary engineers, general laborers and structural engineers, along with ADA compliance, finance and regulatory affairs professionals.
A Public Works carpenter sizes a plank for the new walkway.
Many of the parts needed for the repairs had to be hand-crafted. Given the age of the 91-year-old span, we couldn’t just install off-the-shelf steel beams and timber sidewalk planks.
And just like that, the wooden walkway is back in operation, just in time for the new baseball season.
Due to the location over Mission Creek Channel, just to the south of the shoreline ballpark, the lumber, beams, bolts, nails, cables and other materials received special coatings to protect against the corrosive salty water and air. And given that the bridge is a working drawbridge over navigable water and a designated landmark, the project required multiple regulatory approvals.
As the caretaker of the Third Steet Bridge, Public Works takes pride in keeping it in good shape for the thousands of people who travel across it every day.
A handful of the Bureau of Building and Street Repair team members working on the bridge repairs pose for a group photo.
To learn more about the iconic structure, check out this past episode of Public Works TV.
The Upper Market corridor gets new decorative crosswalks. Photo: SFMTA
Upper Market Streetscape Improvements Project
Wins State Award
The streetscape changes along the stretch of Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and Castro Street brought welcome and meaningful improvements to this well-traveled corridor. They also landed a well-deserved recognition from the California State Association of Counties.
The statewide group awarded the Public Works-managed project a “Local Streets and Roads Complete Streets Award.”
Better-timed traffic signals, high-visibility crosswalks and new bulb-outs aim to improve pedestrian safety along the busy corridor. Photo: SFMTA
The Upper Market Corridor Safety Improvements Project provided multiple upgrades to the public right of way. Among them:
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31 new curb ramps
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Decorative crosswalks stamped into the asphalt at the Laguna/Herman/Market and the 15th/Sanchez/Market intersections
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New, high-visibility traffic signals
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50 new bike racks
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A new wider sidewalk at Guerrero and Market streets
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7 new bulb-outs to shorten the distance for pedestrians to cross Market Street
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New decorative railings added along Muni boarding islands
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10 custom-designed leaning rails for passersby to lean on to take a short rest
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A reconfigured intersection at Octavia Street
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Buffered bike lanes at multiple locations along the stretch
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New “uplighting” installed at the base of the Upper Market palm trees to illuminate them at night
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New landscaping, including street trees
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New Rainbow Honor Walk plaques
Not only do decorative crosswalks add a splash of beauty to the streetscape, but they also can have the psychological effect of slowing down drivers. Photo: SFMTA
It took a team to deliver this project – San Francisco Public Works, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the San Francisco County Transportation Authority working together on planning, design, community outreach, construction management and funding. Other key players included the contractor, Esquivel Grading and Paving, Inc., the Castro Community Benefit District and the District 8 supervisor’s office. The project team also collaborated closely with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission on water system relocations.
Custom-design bike racks pay homage to the historic streetcars that run along Market Street. Photo: SFMTA
“These upgrades revitalize the Upper Market corridor and improve safety and comfort for all users using this stretch of Market Street,” said Carol Huang, a Public Works engineer and project manager who helped usher through the work. “It’s safer to navigate and more activated, with many community-service benefits for public use."
The streetscape improvements include decorative railings on the Muni boarding islands. Photo: SFMTA
Construction began on the $12.5 million project in summer 2021. It reached substantial completion in February 2023. The award was announced this past February.
Bl m L p
San Francisco’s public spaces are bursting to life this month with wildflowers growing along roadway medians, blooming in sidewalk gardens and pocket parks and emerging from cracks in the sidewalk. Pink, purple, red, yellow – the colorful wildflowers are out in all their glory, uplifting spirits and attracting bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.
Stationary Engineer John La Monte adjusts the time on the clock at Market and Drumm streets.
It's About Time
Twice a year, just like clockwork, Public Works stationary engineers climb a tall ladder to manually adjust the hands on three towering public timepieces along Market Street.
To accommodate daylight saving time, the time sprang forward one hour this year during the predawn on March 10 and will fall back an hour on Nov. 3, necessitating another visit by our crews. They make sure the clocks, about 15 feet tall and each with four faces, provide the correct time for people passing by.
Public Works is the keeper of the 1970s-era, bronze street clocks along Market Street – located at Drumm Street, O’Farrell Street and Sutter Street.
The time needs to be changed manually on each of the clock’s four faces.
Fewer than 3 percent of U.S. architects achieve AIA fellowship status.
For They Are Jolly Good Fellows: Prestigious Recognition for Two Architects
This month, two Public Works-affiliated architects received one of the profession’s highest honors, bestowed upon them by the American Institute of Architects, the world’s largest design organization.
Julia Laue, who leads Public Works’ Bureau of Architecture, and Paul Woolford, a member of the Public Works Commission, were among the 20 AIA California members who were elevated to the distinguished College of Fellows.
Julia Laue (left) and Paul Woolford gain entry to the prestigious American Institute of Architects’ College of Fellows.
The designation is AIA’s highest membership honor and a rare achievement. Fewer than 3 percent of the nation’s architecture professionals achieve fellowship status, according to the AIA.
The organization started the fellowship program “to elevate architects who have achieved a standard of excellence in the profession and made a significant contribution to architecture and society on a national level.”
Laue joined Public Works’ Bureau of Architecture in 2013 after 28 years in the private sector. She now oversees an architectural staff of more than 70 professionals, leading a bureau that delivers hundreds of building and renovation projects of all types – from branch libraries and community centers to fire stations and civic auditoriums – for neighborhoods across San Francisco.
Woolford joined HOK – a design, architecture, engineering and planning firm – in 1997. He was promoted to Design Principal of the Atlanta office after a year and in 2005 was named as Design Principal for the San Francisco studio. In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of the design process, leading interdisciplinary teams comprised of architects, engineers, planners, interior designers and landscape architects.
Woolford was appointed to the Public Works Commission by the mayor in 2022, serving in a seat designated for a registered architect licensed in California. His term ends July 2, 2026.
Congratulations to both winners for this great honor!