San Francisco businesses dreading impact of 19th Avenue closures for repaving project

By Kenny Choi

A major repaving project on 19th Avenue is slowing traffic through the Sunset District and raising concerns for nearby businesses as crews begin a series of weekend closures along one of the city’s busiest north-south corridors.

Drivers saw delays throughout the day Friday as streets running parallel to and crossing 19th Avenue also slowed while people looked for alternate routes.

Crews are repairing and repaving 19th Avenue as part of a project stretching from Golden Gate Park to San Francisco State University. Caltrans is compressing what it says would typically be about 40 days of work into three major weekend closures.

At Sunset Service Super Lube, owner Stan Shpak said customers were already calling to ask whether the shop would remain open and whether its 19th Avenue driveway would be accessible.

“It has impacted business already,” Shpak said. “We’ve been receiving phone calls from several customers asking if we’re going to be open and if the driveway on 19th will be open.”

The shop will stay open, but Shpak said he expects business to drop by about 20% during the weekend closures.

Nearby, Papadopoulos Brothers Flower Shop at 19th Avenue and Quintara Street expects sales to dip by 10% to 15%. Owner Taso Papadopoulos said he is especially concerned about upcoming closures in May.

“I’m more worried about when they dig up Mother’s Day weekend,” Papadopoulos said. “That’s my busiest day. That’s what I’m concerned about.”

This weekend, two northbound lanes are closed, with one lane remaining open for Muni, emergency responders and local access. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said several Muni routes will be affected and riders should expect delays.

“The wait times for it are pretty long,” said Abulez Alawdi, of San Francisco. “This is just making it worse.”

Drivers also felt the slowdown on side streets and nearby routes.

“Everything is pretty slow,” said Andrew Radcliffe, of San Francisco. “Day care drop-off took a little longer. Traveling around this weekend, we’re making plans to go alternate routes.”

Despite the disruption, some business owners said the work is needed.

“There are bumps, cracks and potholes everywhere,” Shpak said. “The road is long overdue for repair.”

Transportation officials are reminding drivers to plan ahead and allow extra travel time while the work continues.