poster on street pole and a trolley going down Market street
Credit: San Francisco Public Works
Downtown/Civic Center

Better Market Street Environmental Review Process

Project status: completed

The Planning Department is conducting environmental review of the Better Market Street project in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and serves as the Lead Agency in preparing an environmental impact report (EIR) to evaluate the environmental effects of the proposed Better Market Street project.

A public hearing on the Better Market Street Draft EIR was held by the Planning Commission on April 4, 2019 and the public comment period for the Better Market Street Draft EIR closed at 5:00 p.m. on April 15, 2019. The Planning Department prepared a Response to Comments Document which is now available and located on the Supporting Info tab. The Planning Commission certified the EIR at a noticed hearing on Thursday, October 10, 2019. San Francisco Public Works and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved the project on October 15, 2019.

The environmental review process provides decision-makers and the general public with an objective analysis of the immediate and long-range specific and cumulative environmental impacts of a proposed project on its surrounding physical environment. In California, environmental review is two-fold in purpose: to disclose the impacts of a project and to ensure public participation.

The project sponsor, San Francisco Public Works (Public Works), in coordination with the Citywide Planning Division of the San Francisco Planning Department and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), proposes to redesign and provide various transportation and streetscape improvements to the 2.2-mile segment of Market Street between Octavia Boulevard and Steuart Street. The proposed project has been developed through an extensive public outreach process that has defined integrated design priorities for Market Street, including improving mobility, enhancing access and the public realm experience, reducing conflict and friction between travel modes, and establishing a unique identity. The initial study for the proposed project, published on March 30, 2016, considered the following three alternatives and two design options:

  • Alternative 1: Market Street (Complete Street and Transit Priority Improvements)
  • Alternative 2: Market Street Moderate Alternative (Complete Street and Moderate Transit Priority Improvements)
  • Alternative 3: Market Street + Mission Street (Complete Street and Transit Priority Improvements on Market plus Bicycle Facility Improvements on Mission)

Since that time, Public Works, SFMTA and the Planning Department have considered public input and evaluated the feasibility of these alternatives and design options, including whether they would avoid or substantially lower one or more significant impacts of the proposed project, and to what degree they would meet the project objectives.

As a result, these three alternatives and two design options have been refined into a single project on Market Street consisting of both transportation and streetscape improvements, including changes to roadway configuration and private vehicle access; traffic signals; surface transit, including transit-only lanes, stop spacing, service, stop location, stop characteristics, infrastructure and a new F-loop; bicycle facilities; pedestrian facilities; streetscapes; commercial and passenger loading; vehicular parking; and utilities.

In general, the proposed project would continue to provide four travel lanes on Market Street, with two center lanes and two curb lanes between Franklin and Beale streets. More than four lanes west of Franklin Street and three lanes east of Beale Street would be provided. The width of the vehicular travel lanes would remain approximately the same as existing conditions. New sidewalk-level bikeways would be installed in each direction on Market Street between the curbside lanes and sidewalks, and a new street-level parking protected bikeways would be installed on Valencia Street between Market and McCoppin streets. New loading zones would be created either near or at the same location as the existing loading bays.

For more information on the Better Market Street project, please visit the following webpage:  http://www.bettermarketstreetsf.org.

Document Language Version Date
Addendum English 12/17/2020
Notice of Availability of an Addendum English 12/17/2020
Notice of Determination English 11/16/2019
Revised Draft MMRP English 10/07/2019
Responses to Comments on Draft EIR – Volume 1 English 09/23/2019
Responses to Comments on Draft EIR – Volume 2 English 09/23/2019
Better Market Street Notice of Availability of a Draft EIR English | Español | 中文 | Tagalog 02/27/2019
Better Market Street Draft EIR - Vol I English 02/27/2019
Better Market Street Draft EIR - Vol II English 02/27/2019
Appendix 1 - Scoping Report English 02/27/2019
Appendix 2 - Initial Study English 02/27/2019
Appendix 3 - Standard Paving Materials in San Francisco’s Public Rights of Way
(Public Works Order 200369)
English 02/27/2019
Appendix 4 - Standard Construction Measures English 02/27/2019
Appendix 5 - Past, Present and Reasonably Foreseeable Projects English 02/27/2019
Appendix 6 - Cultural Resources Supporting Material English 02/27/2019
Appendix 7 - Transportation Supporting Information English 02/27/2019
Appendix 8 - Noise and Vibration Modeling Materials English 02/27/2019
Appendix 9 - Air Quality Modeling Materials English 02/27/2019
Appendix 10 - Screening Level Wind Assessment English 02/27/2019
Appendix 11 - Better Market Street Final Report English 02/27/2019
    02/27/2019
Initial Study English 03/30/2016
Notice of Availability of Initial Study English  |  Español  |  中文  | Tagalog 03/30/2016
Public Scoping Meeting Presentation English 02/04/2015
Availability of Notice of Preparation English  |  Español  |  中文 01/14/2015
Notice of Preparation English  |  Español  |  中文 01/14/2015

If you have general questions regarding the environmental review for this project, please contact:

Jenny Delumo
Senior Planner
San Francisco Planning Department
1650 Mission Street, Suite 400
San Francisco, CA 94103
(415) 575-9146 or jenny.delumo@sfgov.org