The noisiest part of the Geary Boulevard work is over. On October 9, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission declared its water and sewer project under Geary 100% complete and said its contractor had removed all equipment and materials from the area. The project replaced or rehabilitated pipes that the agency says are mostly more than 120 years old, dating to the Richmond District's first development in the late 1800s. SFPUC marked the milestone with a public gathering at Argonne Playground on October 1.
The work that will change how the Inner Richmond's stretch of Geary looks and works hasn't started yet. A July 2026 San Francisco Public Works staff report calls the SFMTA's surface upgrades, which are sequenced after the pipe work, "the final construction activity along this corridor." That phase is where the paint-and-signs layout from 2023 gets built in concrete, corner by corner.
The 2023 layout was the draft
If you ride the 38 from 6th Avenue or turn off Geary at 4th, you have already lived with this project for three years. In fall 2023, SFMTA ran a "Quick-Build" using only paint and signs. It moved bus stops to the far side of intersections, added transit lanes, restricted left turns at 11 locations along the corridor and retimed signals to give people more time to cross.
SFMTA's July 2025 evaluation of that draft found 38 and 38R travel times dropped 6 to 11% after the changes. The agency estimates that adds up to 235 hours of rider time saved every day across the line. Among riders who noticed a difference, 85% said their trip had become more reliable. Traffic collisions in the project corridor fell by a third.
Paint doesn't last, and it can't extend a curb. The Geary Boulevard Improvement Project now turns those lines into permanent street. The $48 million project runs from Stanyan Street to 34th Avenue. SFMTA plans its transit and safety construction from late 2026 to early 2028, covering bus bulbs, pedestrian bulbs, upgraded signals, curb-to-curb repaving, new street trees and sidewalk art. The project also paints the transit lanes red. SFMTA cites research showing red lanes improve driver compliance by 50%.
Corner by corner, Arguello to Park Presidio
SFMTA's design overview lists the work intersection by intersection. Here is the Inner Richmond section, with some of the businesses at each corner. The businesses come from the city's Shop Dine along Geary Blvd. campaign.
| Geary at | What gets built | On the corner |
|---|---|---|
| Arguello Blvd | Transit bulb at the southeast corner; inbound stop zone extended | Star India |
| 3rd Ave | Pedestrian bulb at the northeast corner; outbound stop already moved to the far side | |
| 4th Ave | Pedestrian bulbs on all four corners | Teawood Café |
| 6th Ave | Both stops moved to the far side, with transit bulbs at northwest and southeast and pedestrian bulbs at northeast and southwest | Sabrosa Pizza, Alushe coffee bar |
| 11th Ave | Pedestrian bulb at the northeast corner | The Hearth |
| 12th Ave | Pedestrian bulbs at northeast and southwest; inbound and outbound stops removed | Tat Wong Kung Fu Academy |
| Funston Ave | Raised crosswalk on the south side | |
| 14th Ave | Raised crosswalk on the north side | Amphawa Thai Noodle House |
| Park Presidio Blvd | Transit bulbs at northwest and southeast; decorative sidewalks at both Rapid stops |
The table explains what changes at each corner. SFMTA's project FAQ says the stop moves themselves happened during the 2023 Quick-Build. This phase adds the curbs those moves were planned around. At 6th and Park Presidio, the sidewalk will extend out to the bus lane so the 38 can stop without pulling over to the curb and back out. At 4th, 11th and 12th, the bulbs shorten the walk across Geary and push drivers into slower turns.
The turn rules on these blocks stay the same. Westbound drivers still can't turn left toward Anza at 4th or 12th, and eastbound drivers still can't turn left toward Clement at 8th or 11th. Eastbound drivers can't turn right toward Anza at Funston, and westbound drivers can't turn right toward Clement at 14th. Eastbound drivers get right-turn pockets at 9th Avenue and Park Presidio.
Why 6th Avenue gets the most concrete
In the Inner Richmond, no intersection on the list gets more new curb than 6th Avenue. Both bus stops get transit bulbs, and two more corners get pedestrian bulbs. The collision record shows why. SFMTA brought a list of the District 1 intersections with the most traffic injuries and fatalities to its October 14, 2026 Geary Community Advisory Committee meeting. Geary and 6th Avenue was eighth on the list for 2014 to 2022. It is not on the list for 2024 to 2026.
Across the whole district, the number of Geary intersections in that top ten fell from three to one. The one that remains is Park Presidio and Geary, which moved from sixth to seventh. That corner is also on the list for transit bulbs.
The same presentation reported a 67% drop in average annual pedestrian injuries and fatalities in the project area. It compared 2014 to 2022 with the period from the Quick-Build through April 2026, and SFMTA said a final evaluation will follow construction. SFMTA also credited the new automated speed cameras with reducing speeding on Geary. It measured speeds on the block between 7th and 8th Avenues, which carried about 16,000 vehicles a day in May 2026.
So the corners the Quick-Build improved with paint are the same corners getting permanent curbs now.
Trees, repaving and one stop of student art
The finishing work comes last. SFMTA expected it as construction winds down around late 2027, and it includes curb-to-curb repaving and about 50 new trees in the medians and on the sidewalks. SFMTA picked the species from almost 1,600 survey responses. Coast Live Oak and Monterey Cypress will go in the medians. California Buckeye, California Bay Laurel and Primrose Tree will go on the sidewalks.
The agency says it has already chosen planting locations with input from neighboring residents, businesses and property owners, and kept trees from blocking storefront signs. It plans more outreach a few months before planting to confirm each location and species. If you own or rent a storefront on Geary, that is the round of outreach to watch for.
Six Rapid stops get decorative concrete set with glass aggregate inside the boarding zone. Only one of those intersections is in the Inner Richmond. Park Presidio gets both its inbound and outbound stops, and the other four are at 20th and 25th Avenues. Outbound designs are ocean-themed and inbound designs are themed on greenery and parks. Honors art students at George Washington High School created the designs, which feature the Richmond District's local plants and animals.
What the schedule says so far
A Public Works staff report prepared for the commission's July 23, 2026 meeting recommended awarding the surface contract to Esquivel Grading and Paving, Inc. The recommended contract is for $17,591,275 and runs 450 calendar days, with another 45 days of contingency. Its listed scope includes repaving, pedestrian safety work, streetlighting and signal upgrades, landscaping and traffic control. At the October 14 committee meeting, SFMTA said it expected to issue the Notice to Proceed in October and start construction in late 2026. It also said it would announce the order of the work after the contractor submits its baseline schedule. SFMTA hasn't said which blocks go first, so nobody can yet say when work reaches your corner.
SFMTA has said how residents will be told. The October 14 presentation listed these steps.
- A mailer to nearby residents and merchants before construction begins
- Biweekly construction forecasts in the format SFPUC used during the pipe work
- Contractor signs every 100 feet in active work areas
- Flyers to merchants before any temporary parking removal
- Ads in the Richmond Review and an SFMTA blog post
- A Small Business Working Group, which SFMTA was preparing to launch
The project team will hold drop-in office hours at the Joe's Ice Cream parklet on Tuesday, November 10, from 2 to 5 p.m. Joe's is at 18th Avenue and Geary, a short ride west on the 38 from Park Presidio. The Geary Community Advisory Committee meets next on January 13 at 6 p.m., fully remote on Microsoft Teams. For updates by email or text, use the sign-up link on the SFMTA project page, or write the team at [email protected].
The city's Shop Dine Geary campaign, run with SFPUC, is still giving out a limited-edition Geary tote bag. The campaign page lists which corridor businesses have them.
At Amanda Jones Advisory, we follow what happens on the blocks around Geary as closely as the homes on them. That includes a curb going in at 6th Avenue, a stop moving near your building, or a tree planned in front of your storefront. If you own on one of these corners and want to talk through how the work affects your timing, book a private consultation.
