CVIA Blog
Impact: Cole Street Merchants & Seismic Retrofits
THIS ARTICLE WILL BE CONTINUALLY UPDATED. The Mandatory Soft Story Retrofit Program (MSSP) was created in 2013 to ensure the safety and resilience of San Francisco's housing stock through the retrofit of older (before 1978), wood-framed, multi-family buildings (5 or more residential dwelling units) with a soft-story condition. A "soft story" is either a garage or an open-space storefront on the first floor of a building, which leads to greater potential for damage to the building as a whole in the event of an earthquake, unless seismic reinforcements have been made.
Here’s what we know about the businesses affected in Cole Valley – we’ll continue post information as we get updates:
Update March 12, 2016:
- Tantrum has closed due to the construction. Visit them in their temporary (we hope!) space at 248 Clement Street beginning April 1st.
- Padrecito's, Lavande, and Mane Attraction will stay open during construction, thanks to the owner of the building looking for alternative ways to do the work and keep the businesses open. Work is estimated to begin in January 2017.
Information as of March 1, 2016:
- Tantrum, the shop curated with “whimsy filled with kid-centric well-designed gifts for kid’s and grown-ups alike” needs to vacate their space in March for 5-6 months. There’s more than seismic work that needs to be done there.
- Urban Mercantile, a “unique purveyors of sublime and refined goods and gifts” is scheduled to close in April for 3 months. Their annual January sale will run longer this year to reduce inventory to pack up.
- Vierra & Friends, a popular hair salon, may have a pop-up space outside the neighborhood, thanks to their landlord.
- A permit has been filed for the building La Boulagerie is in, but we don’t have information about when the work will be done.
- Padracito’s, Mane Attraction, and Lavande are in one building together and will hear soon what their fate is.
- Peet’s and MadKat’s building is on the list but we have no other information.
- Crepes on Cole is not affected because there are fewer than five residential units in their building.
Imagine what closing a small business means! Packing up the inventory; finding an alternative location and unpacking or storing the inventory; laying off employees for a short time with the hopes they’ll return – or paying them; losing money; losing customers… Yikes! Let’s hope we don’t lose our favorite Cole Valley business.
What can we do as a community to show our merchants? Support these businesses before they close and when they reopen.
Be Prepared: Street Closures for "420 Day" Surrounding Golden Gate Park
So heavy are the crowds around the east end of Golden Gate Park and surrounding streets on April 20 (National Cannabis Day), that the SFPD will prohibit automobile traffic from most of the area. Below is their plan.
“4-20 Day” Street Closures
Sharon Meadow Area Closures
WB Fell @ Shrader Street – Vehicles traveling WB on Fell Street will be diverted from Fell Street onto NB Stanyan Street.
NB Stanyan @ Fell Street – Vehicles traveling NB on Stanyan Street will not be able to use Fell Street loop to WB Fell Street. All vehicles will be directed to stay on NB Stanyan Street.
WB John F. Kennedy Drive from Stanyan Street – No vehicular traffic allowed EB
EB Lincoln Way @ Kezar Drive – No vehicular traffic allowed WB
WB Frederick Street at Kezar Dr./Lincoln Way – No vehicular traffic allowed.
NB Stanyan Street @ Frederick Street – No vehicular traffic allowed.
Haight Street Area Closures
(Residents on the following streets will be allowed access with proof of residency)
Waller Street @ Shrader Street - No NB traffic allowedai???
Waller Street @ Cole Street – No NB traffic allowedai???
Waller Street @ Belvedere Street – No NB traffic allowedai???
Waller Street @ Clayton Street – No NB traffic allowedai???
Waller Street @ Ashbury Street – No NB traffic allowedai???
Masonic Ave. @ Haight Street – No WB traffic allowed on Haight
Masonic Ave. @ Page Street – No WB traffic allowed onto Page
Oak Street @ Shrader Street – No SB traffic allowed on Shrader Street
Oak Street @ Cole Street – No SB traffic allowed on Cole Street
Oak Street @ Clayton Street - No SB traffic allowed on Clayton Street
Oak Street @ Ashbury Street – No SB traffic allowed on Ashbury Street
N Judah Sunset Tunnel Work Details
The Sunset Tunnel construction is scheduled to take place on 15 weekends between November 2014 and June 2015. So far we have worked on three weekends. The next tentative dates are the weekends of Jan. 23 and Jan. 30, 2015.
What to Expect during Weekend Construction:
- Crews will work continuously from approximately 8 p.m. on Friday until 5 a.m. on Monday.
- The majority of the work will take place inside the Sunset Tunnel and at the tunnel entrances.
- Noise can be heard in the surrounding areas, especially when the trucks move the gravels in and out of the portal. We will balance this work between the east and west portals to make it less disruptive for one neighborhood.
- Majority of gravel moving will take place from Friday night until Saturday afternoon at the west portal near Carl and Cole streets, and from late Saturday until Sunday afternoon at the east portal near Noe Street and Duboce Avenue.
- We will do our best to keep the noise down, but the work will be audible throughout the weekend.
- The streets near the tunnel entrances will remain open.
- To accommodate the tunnel work, parking restrictions will become effective from Friday 12 a.m. to Monday 5 a.m. on both sides of Duboce Avenue from Steiner to Scott Street, and on both sides of Carl Street from Clayton to Cole Street.
Bus substitution service:
- Bus shuttles will substitute for the N Judah rail service between Church & Duboce and Ocean Beach.
- Bus substitution will start at about 7 p.m. on Friday and will operate during regular service hours until Monday morning.
- The bus shuttles will follow the N Judah Line making regular stops except for the tunnel portion where buses will be operated on Haight Street.
- Regular N rail service will continue to provide service between Caltrain Depot and Church & Duboce.
- The N Judah stops at Church & Duboce will provide a transfer point between bus shuttles and trains for Muni customers.
- The weekend N Judah Owl bus service will not be affected.
Other Ongoing N Judah System Improvement Projects:
Maximizing construction opportunities, the SFMTA has integrated multiple construction components under the Sunset Tunnel project in order to minimize the inconveniences for both N Judah riders and the community around the construction area.
The Transit Signal Priority (TSP) system upgrades are taking place at nine intersections sequentially along the N Judah Line. Currently a crew is working on Irving between 3rd and 9th avenues. On the January 9 weekend, crews will be installing signal loops between the tracks at the intersections of Irving and 7th Avenue and Irving and 8th Avenue. The work will start at approximately 7 p.m. Friday and will continue until Saturday night. We will schedule the work to avoid late night noise.
The TSP system will use technology to reduce dwell time at traffic signals for Muni light rail vehicles by holding green lights longer.
The construction of two new wheelchair accessible platforms on Judah and 28th Avenuehas been ongoing. Crews are working to reconstruct the inbound stop Monday through Friday. The stop is currently out of service. Muni customers can board N Judah rail car at the temporary stop at 27th Avenue. The work requires closure of traffic lanes.
The new platform will include longer boarding islands and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant curb ramps, making Muni Metro system safer and easier to use for all customers.
Thank you for your understanding and patience while we work to improve your Muni system.
For the latest project updates and weekend construction dates, visit www.sfmta.com/sunsettunnel. Public can also self subscribe to project updates on the project home page.
For concerns or assistance, please contact: Tess Kavanagh, Project Manager, at 415.701.4212, via email at tess.kavanagh@sfmta.com or Jay Lu, Public Relations Officer, at 415.701.4387, via email at jay.lu@sfmta.com.
Santa on Cole December 7th!
It's that time of year again! Avoid long lines and busy malls... Plan to come to the Postal Chase for that classic holiday photo of your child (or pet, or just wonderful you) with the guy in the red suit.
Santa on Cole
Sunday, December 7th
Postal Chase, 912 Cole St
11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
A professional photographer — CVIA member and Cole Valley resident Loic Nicolas — donates his time and talent to create a memorable photo for you. This is a fundraiser supporting the Clean Cole Street project.
Photo sitting fee is $20. Online orders start at $1 per photo and $15 for the photo file. See below for details.
Please pass it on to your neighbors!
Summer Social: August 23, 2014
You won't want to miss this year’s Summer Social and Annual Meeting on August 23 at Kezar Bar & Restaurant from 1-4p.m.! This is a time to meet your neighbors while enjoying appetizers and your choice of a beverage. We’ll have a speaker and a raffle! The raffle is a fundraiser for the Clean Cole Street project where the commercial area of Cole Street gets swept every day. Raffle tickets are $5 each or $20 for 5 tickets. You can pre-purchase them or buy them at the Social. Check out the great raffle prizes below!
This CVIA Members (and their guests) event is $10 per person. Please RSVP at cviasf@aol.com! If you can't attend the social on the 23rd, but would like to buy raffle tickets to support the Clean Cole Street project, send a check to CVIA, PO Box 170611, SF 94117 and we'll enter your name and send you tickets. You don't have to be present to win. Check back here and on our Facebook page for information on where we might be selling the tickets around the neighborhood.
* Raffle Sales on Cole Street Friday 8/22 between 4:30-6PM! Find our little card table and get yourself some raffle tickets! *
Thanks to our generous merchants for providing these fabulous gifts!