Three blocks and two sets of rules
Powell Street between Market and Geary is three blocks. Public Works will rebuild the roadway, sidewalks, lighting and landscaping along all three.
The environmental description in the contract papers splits the corridor. Market to Ellis operates as a shared street carrying cable cars and no vehicular traffic. Ellis to Geary runs two ways in two lanes of 10 to 11 feet, each lane shared by cable cars and limited vehicle traffic. A coach cannot pull up inside the turnaround.
Where a coach can still stop
The corridor carries four loading zones today. The project relocates every mid-block loading zone to the near side and the far side of its block, and rebuilds loading zones at the Ellis, O'Farrell and Geary intersections.
The papers publish no coach length limit and no dwell allowance. Ask Public Works which rebuilt zone takes a full-size coach before the stop goes into a client document.
The cable car boarding point moves
The project consolidates the stops at O'Farrell and Geary into two mid-block stops between those streets, one northbound and one southbound. Boarding leaves the intersections.
Two lines run on these tracks, Powell-Mason and Powell-Hyde, and both start at the Powell and Market turnaround. A single cable car ride costs $9.00 and carries no transfers. A one-day visitor passport covering cable cars and Muni costs $15.00.
What the dates say
The project page reads construction from fall 2026 into winter 2027, with a start field of fall 2026 and a budget of approximately $40 million. The Public Works Commission papers of 8 October 2026 set notice to proceed on 5 November 2026, construction start on 15 December 2026 and construction end on 30 November 2027.
The environmental description estimates 545 calendar days of construction.
Two delivery scenarios
The environmental description prices two outcomes. Full build-out at $50 million delivers the complete design. Phase 1 at $30 million to $35 million delivers the Golden Lantern, the catenary lighting and the sidewalk work, and leaves the roadway and trackway to a second phase.
Plan a group day against the phase-one outcome. The lantern and the sidewalks arrive first. The roadway holds its current condition until the second phase is funded.
Where the slack goes
Public Works commits to phased construction, traffic management, temporary pedestrian routes, and open pedestrian and business access through the build. It commits to coordinating with Muni to hold cable car shutdown time down. None of those commitments carries a calendar date.
Put 20 to 30 minutes of float on each Powell leg. Book a cable car ride as a slot.
Crossing streets for vehicle access
Ellis, O'Farrell and Geary cross the corridor, and each keeps a rebuilt loading zone at its intersection. Enter and leave a Powell leg by one of those three streets and use Powell for the walking stretch.
Public Works publishes no detour map and no closure calendar. Confirm the open crossing with the project manager before each departure: Michelle Woo, 628-271-2155, Michelle.Woo@sfdpw.org. The project page runs an email signup for construction updates.
What the record leaves open
Three items stay unpublished: the hours work runs, the notice a hotel or merchant receives before its block loses vehicle access, and the completion date for the lantern. An itinerary can still hold. Keep the corridor as a walking leg, keep the vehicle on the crossing streets, and hold the fixed-time elements of a day off Powell Street.
The corridor in numbers
Three blocks. Two cable car lines. Four loading zones relocated. A contract of $34,153,810 with a $3,415,381 contingency. A construction window that ends 30 November 2027. Phase 1 at $30 million to $35 million, against a full build-out of $50 million.