Months-long construction on San Francisco's Broadway Tunnel begins

San Francisco Public Works began its 14-month Broadway Tunnel project on Sunday, with a full tunnel closure to run through Monday morning. 

The agency is renovating Chinatown's Public Health Center, which sits atop the tunnel. As a part of the $76 million seismic upgrade, crews have begun working on the Broadway Tunnel underneath. 

 A spokesperson with SF Public Works said they had begun roadway striping and installed scaffolding at the east tunnel entrance. They plan to add traffic control devices as well.

"I think it's not too much different," Anna Poon, who works at Tai Yick Trading Company, said. 

She works just steps away from the tunnel construction project and said she expects foot traffic to stay the same. 

"We have some parking, so finding parking for them is not too difficult," she said. 

Beginning Monday, there will be a partial closure. The bore heading eastbound into Chinatown will close for about seven months, with one lane of traffic open in each direction in the other bore. 

Then, for the following seven months, the westbound bore will close, with two-way traffic in the other bore. 

"I'm just used to it, I guess. Lots of scaffolding around all the time. Just trying to move around it best as I can," Jihad Mobley, who lives in San Francisco, told CBS News Bay Area. 

"San Francisco is a walkable city and I tend to walk to places, so I'm hoping this won't affect me too much. I guess it could affect the bus routes; it definitely would," Annabel Shaw, who also lives in the city, said. 

With SFUSD's first day back-to-school on Monday, officials said drop-off and pickup at some Chinatown and North Beach schools could be affected. They advise families to consider alternate routes and allow for extra travel time. 

"They say they put up some kind of map on the website. Does that work? I don't think so. Because we have a lot of tourists and visitors from outside. They won't be like the community, the people in San Francisco that know about it," Edward Siu, the chairman and president of Chinatown Merchants United Association, told CBS News Bay Area.

He said the city should do more to make it easier for drivers and pedestrians to navigate the closure, saying that there should be larger maps printed for drivers to be aware.

Siu added that these projects will impact business in Chinatown. 

"I believe not only 14 months we're talking about. You're talking about long-term too. I believe it's going to be affecting a lot of business, because who wants to come in when traffic is so sluggish right there?" he said.  

Meanwhile, city leaders reassured that they will be monitoring traffic as the project rolls out and will have traffic controllers by the tunnel to help facilitate drivers and pedestrians. 

More information on the closure and alternate routes is on SF Public Works' website.