Getting ready for Warriors crowds
New arena’s congestion targeted: ‘How are we going to move all these people?’
While Golden State Warriors fans fixate on this year’s playoff run, San Francisco Mayor London Breed is looking ahead to next season — the first the NBA team will play in the brand-new Chase Center arena in Mission Bay.
Last week marked the first meeting of a council of more than a dozen city departments that Breed quietly convened to make sure that city infrastructure and operations are ready for the arena’s scheduled September opening, a date that is making some people who live and work in Mission Bay nervous.
The group will meet every other week to provide updates, sort out priorities and set deadlines. The goal is to avoid the balkanization and miscommunication among departments that can complicate projects and cause delays.
“The goal is to make sure that we’re prepared when this arena opens,” Breed said. “This is about, what are we going to do now and long-term” to guide the development of Mission Bay as its showpiece nears its debut?
The council comprises representatives from Public Works, the Fire Department, the Department of Building Inspection, the Office of Community Investment and Infrastructure, the city’s Public Utilities Commission and
others. The departments have to collaborate to issue permits, complete inspections and finish many other tasks to get Mission Bay ready for the arena’s opening.
“We really appreciate Mayor Breed rallying her departments around their various preparations for the opening of Chase Center,” Warriors President and Chief Operating Officer Rick Welts said in an email. “The meeting with the mayor, department heads and highlevel staff was a great way to keep everyone focused on the tasks at hand.”
But Breed made clear that a top council priority will be ensuring that the Municipal Transportation Agency, one of the council members, is ready to handle the crush of traffic and transit riders that Chase Center is expected to draw.
“We’re adding this new arena, which I’m super excited about, and I want to make sure that the experience that people have getting around in San Francisco is better than it has been,” Breed said. “When you talk about adding thousands of more people at specific times, whether it’s a concert or a game or any kind of event, we want people to want to come here for those purposes. And what that means is making sure we are providing modes of transportation that will help people get in and out more efficiently.”
Many of those working and living in Mission Bay — where extensive development already induces transportation headaches — are bracing for the worst.
“We’ve met with neighborhood associates along the eastern waterfront to find out what things we have in common to discuss,” said Gary Pegueros, secretary for the South Beach | Rincon | Mission Bay Neighborhood Association.
“Transportation and public transportation are probably the biggest problems that get brought up.
“There’s just so much going on,” he continued. “How are we going to move all these people? Not just the ones living and working (in Mission Bay), but people going through there to the Chase Center and over to Dogpatch?”
The arena’s September opening, Pegueros added, “isn’t that far away. If it were me, I’d say, ‘Wouldn’t we want to have those traffic solutions in place now, and work out the kinks?’ ”
“It’s hell. H-E-L-L,” said Pam Stender, describing her daily commute to Mission Bay from South San Francisco, as she walked to a parking garage on South Street in the shadow of the unfinished arena.
Extensive, ongoing development in Mission Bay has already made getting around difficult, she said. When the Warriors’ games start in October, “I hope I’ve left work already,” she said.
“There is no way in or out,” San Francisco resident Joey Long said. “I envision chaos.”
With the influx of development, Breed said, “people are frustrated with congestion, and I share their frustration.”
Fixing that, she said, “means having the hard conversations about what we need to do, and making sure we put together the right structures so we hit it out of the ballpark on Day One.”
SFMTA has two major projects under way aimed at easing congestion.
“We know there will be a lot of traffic, and we’re ready for it,” said Tom Maguire, the SFMTA’s director of sustainable streets.
On Third Street, the agency is building a wider boarding platform for the Muni T-Line between South and 16th streets. The platform is meant to hold 700 people and will enable four two-car trains to load at the same time on each side. As needed, the platform will also allow trains to depart inbound from both sides to connect transit riders to BART, Caltrain and, eventually, the Central Subway.
The SFMTA is also adding red, transit-only lanes on 16th Street to provide east-west connections to downtown and BART. The lanes will run from Third Street to Fillmore Street moving away from the arena and from Bryant to Third toward the stadium.
The 22 Fillmore bus line will continue on 16th to the arena, rather than turning right on Kansas Street as it does now.
On top of that, the Warriors have paid the city to hire 23 parking-control officers who will manage traffic during events.
“We’re making investments to make sure that Muni and BART and mass transit is the best way for people to get” to Chase Center, Maguire said. “The best way to manage congestion is to give people a really good alternative.”