With Pride festivities and a three-game series between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers this weekend, people traveling to the city should prepare for traffic chaos as officials shut down roads and crowds inundate San Francisco streets and trains.
Pride events and parties begin Friday evening and continue through Sunday. At the same time, the Giants are hosting their rivals for games on Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon at Oracle Park. Also happening this weekend is the Stern Grove Festival, a free annual music festival that draws tens of thousands to the city’s sleepy west side between June and August.
Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to attend Pride events, the largest of which is the annual Pride Parade on Sunday.
The Financial District, SoMa and Civic Center areas will see the brunt of changes during Pride, with street closures starting Thursday night through Monday morning.
The Pride Parade route begins in the Financial District, with attendees gathering at Steuart, Spear, Main and Beale streets just south of Market Street. At 10:30 a.m. the parade will begin at Beale and Market streets, heading down Market and ending at UN Plaza, according to SF Pride’s website.
Street closures
From 9 a.m. June 25 to 9 a.m. July 2, the following streets will be closed:
- Grove Street between Polk and Larkin streets
From 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Monday, the following streets will be closed:
- Fulton Street between Hyde and Larkin streets
- Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place between Grove and McAllister streets
- Larkin Street between McAllister and Market streets
- Grove Street (westbound traffic lanes only) between Larkin and Hyde streets
From 9 a.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday, the following streets will be closed:
- Grove Street between Van Ness Avenue and Hyde Street
From 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday, the following streets will be closed:
- Dr. Tom Waddell Place (Lech Walesa) between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street
- Polk Street between Grove and Market streets
- McAllister Street between Van Ness Avenue and Leavenworth Street
- Hyde Street between McAllister and Grove streets
- Continuum Place from Golden Gate Avenue to Terminus
- Elm Street between Van Ness Avenue and Polk Street
- Golden Gate Avenue between Van Ness Avenue and Leavenworth Street
- Hyde Street between Turk and McAllister streets
- Larkin Street between Turk and McAllister streets
- Polk Street between Turk and McAllister streets
- Redwood Street between Polk Street and Van Ness Avenue
From 12:01 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, the following streets will be closed:
- Leavenworth Street between McAllister and Market streets
From 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, the following streets will be closed:
- Market Street between Eighth and Ninth streets
The San Francisco Police Department did not respond to a request for additional information about street closures along the parade route by publication time.
Muni reroutes
The 19-Polk line will be rerouted to go around the Civic Center area from 7 p.m. Thursday to 6 a.m. Monday.
Both the 5 and 5R lines and outbound buses on the 27 line will be rerouted from 8 p.m. Friday to 6 a.m. Monday. Eastbound 5 and 5R buses will turn down Van Ness and onto Mission Street before turning onto Market Street at Ninth Street. Westbound 5 and 5R buses will be rerouted to stay south of Civic Center before continuing west.
On Sunday from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., the 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 14R, 15, 19, 27, 31, 38 and 38R buses will be rerouted. The California Cable Car and F Market & Wharves light rail will be replaced with buses. Early morning bus lines, including the K Ingleside Bus and the N Judah Bus, will also be rerouted during that time.
BART service
BART touts it will run its most robust service ever for Pride this year, with service on all five major lines running by 8 a.m. and trains passing through downtown San Francisco every five minutes. From 9:30 to 11 a.m. Sunday, special event trains from Millbrae and Pleasant Hill will run into downtown San Francisco, which can skip stops for faster service. BART said more event trains will be added as needed. After 2 p.m., special event trains will supplement train service into the evening.
BART will run trains on just the Yellow, Blue and Orange lines after 9 p.m.
Riders should expect large crowds at Embarcadero Station before 10 a.m. and large crowds all day at Civic Center Station, as well as heavy ridership to and from all downtown stations and 16th St. Mission Station. Riders are encouraged to use the Montgomery Street and Powell Street stations instead of Civic Center or Embarcadero.