One hundred percent of tree material removed during the preconstruction activity was recycled or salvaged by Green Waste Recycle Yard in Richmond, California.
More than 50 native plant species, for a total of 45,000 plants, were collected in the Presidio prior to construction and are now being grown in the Presidio Nursery.
Many of the piles for the high viaduct will be 12 feet in diameter, requiring a special oscillator rig for installation of the piles. Larger, deeper piles mean fewer piles are necessary, opening views from the Presidio to the bay.
The new parkway will allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross over or under Doyle Drive in accordance with the Presidio Trails and Bikeways Master Plan.
The new parkway will have larger 11- and 12-foot lanes to accommodate buses and provide an improved experience for drivers.
Each weekday, nearly 120,000 vehicles travel between Marin and San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge along Doyle Drive.
The start of construction of the Presidio Parkway was accelerated by more than a year thanks to the receipt of $50 million in federal stimulus funding.
The new parkway will improve traffic safety by including continuous shoulders for emergency and disabled vehicles.
The first set of tunnels, the Battery Tunnels, will be constructed north of the San Francisco National Cemetery and span 853 feet.
Halleck Street will be closed and temporarily removed during construction. Upon completion of the Main Post Tunnels, Halleck Street will be restored over the top of the new tunnels.
The Main Post Tunnels will be constructed north of the Main Post parade grounds. These will be the longer of the two sets of tunnels, spanning 1,017 feet.
$3.6 million went directly to small and local businesses for the project’s first preconstruction contract (tree removal and native plant and seed collection).
The new parkway will include extended bus bays on both sides of Richardson Avenue.
Seismic safety will be achieved in 2011 when traffic is transferred onto new structures and the temporary bypass adjacent to the existing facility.
A robust Disadvantaged and Small Business Enterprise Participation Program has been established to actively engage businesses throughout San Francisco, the Bay Area, and California to participate in the project.
The northbound and southbound roadways will be separated by a wide, landscaped median improving driver safety and creating a parkway feel.
Both sets of tunnels will be constructed using the cut and cover method by digging into the natural bluffs and covering the tunnels with a green pedestrian corridor.
Including a temporary bypass in the construction phasing reduced the construction duration by nearly two years.
Concrete is used more than any other man-made material in the world

Environmental Review

Federal and state laws require formal review of projects that may affect the environment. The federal law, the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and the state law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), requires the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). A combined EIS/R was prepared to identify short-term impacts related to project construction and long-term issues of the completed project.

The Draft EIS/R was released in December 2005. After the public and agency comment period ended, extensive agency and stakeholder outreach took place to recommend a Preferred Alternative. On September 26, 2006, the Authority Board of Commissioners formally identified the Presidio Parkway as the Preferred Alternative.

A Final EIS/R, prepared to address comments received on the DEIS/R, was circulated in October 2008. The FEIS/R was then certified by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board of Commissioners on Tuesday, December 16 marking the end of the project’s environmental phase and the beginning of final design.

Certification of the FEIS/R entails the approval of the project’s Findings of Fact; approval of the Statement of Overriding Consideration; adoption of the Mitigation Monitoring Plan; and approval of the Refined Presidio Parkway as the preferred alternative.

View the presentation given by project manager Lee Saage, to the Plans and Programs Committee on December 9, 2008.

Key Design Refinements to the Preferred Alternative

Working with stakeholders and resource agencies, the project team refined the Preferred Alternative to minimize or eliminate potential impacts to the natural environment, cultural and community resources, and the Presidio.

Key design refinements include:

Raising the original profile of the southbound lanes to preserve the cultural landscape and retain the cultural relationship between the upper and lower portions of the Presidio.
Revising the landscaping of the Main Post tunnels to recreate the bluff north of the tunnels.
Realigning the low causeway to create greater separation between the roadways over the future marsh expansion area, increasing light penetration and improving the wildlife corridor. The roadway curvature introduced by this refinement also calms traffic by reducing traffic speeds before reaching city streets.
Reconfiguring the Girard Road interchange to preserve the Gorgas Avenue streetscape adjacent to the historic warehouses and improve views of the Palace of Fine Arts.
Modifying the Gorgas Avenue/Richardson Avenue intersection to improve pedestrian connections, provide consolidated transit access and deter cut-through traffic.
Restoring the top portion of Building 201 to its original location after construction to preserve the historic Halleck streetscape and historic bluff.
Treating roadway pollutant runoff with passive, low impact measures to the maximum extent practicable to improve water quality in the area.