San Francisco extends Mission District street closures for 18 months

San Francisco extended the Mission District’s street closures for another 18 months on Tuesday, June 17, keeping dead ends and barriers in place on Capp Street and Shotwell Street.

The closures began on February 10, 2023, when the city installed dead ends at four points on Capp Street at the request of the San Francisco Police Department’s Mission Station. The current setup closes Capp at 18th, 20th, 21st and 22nd streets, while Shotwell has midblock barriers between 19th and 20th streets and between 20th and 21st streets, along with turn restrictions at nearby intersections. Under California Vehicle Code Section 21101.4, temporary closures can last up to 18 months and be extended in 18-month increments when the city makes the required findings.

Residents at the hearing described two very different blocks. Jason Schlachet, a longtime Capp Street resident, said the street had been a nightmare before the bollards, with bumper-to-bumper traffic, discarded condoms and intimidation from pimps, and said the closure made Capp feel residential again. Laurel Coco, who lives at 18th and Shotwell, said the barriers did not solve the problem so much as move it to her block and called for comparable traffic controls there. Janet Tarlov, a board member, said the board had worked to help the police department maintain the closures, while noting that many prostitution and assault concerns remained under the San Francisco Police Department’s purview.

The first Capp Street bollards cost more than $250,000, and ABC7 San Francisco put the share destroyed within weeks at about one-third, forcing the city to consider sturdier replacements. The Shotwell design was shaped with input from the San Francisco Fire Department so emergency vehicles could still get through, even as the city tried to block through traffic.

The issue spilled into court last August, when five Shotwell Street neighbors sued the city over sex work, public urination and drinking near Jose Coronado Playground. After that filing, Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Hillary Ronen announced barricades and cameras for Shotwell, plus warning letters to vehicle owners seen in prostitution areas.