Construction project underway on Van Ness corridor in San Francisco to cause delays

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A major construction project on San Francisco's Van Ness Avenue is now underway and it promises to create delays for drivers all over the city for a long time.

Once complete the Van Ness corridor will be new and drive times will be quicker and safer, but for in the meantime it will create confusion for drivers.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will be reducing Van Ness Avenue from three lanes in both directions to two starting Monday. Eventually, center lanes will be designated bus only.

"The buses definitely get in the way, especially if they don't pull like all the way in if they have their tail hanging out. That's problematic to get around," said Uber driver Ennis Jackson.

The renderings from SFMTA show what the project will look like when completed. It's similar to the Muni trains on Third Street. The result should mean a time savings of about 15 minutes.

This weekend left turns on Van ZNess will be removed at all but three intersections.

"I just feel like it's going to cause way too much traffic. People already drive really crazy in the city. I feel like it would be total chaos," said Chelsea Grenafegeh.

"One of the leading causes of collisions throughout the city are left turns and by eliminating some of the left turns along the corridor we're making the city safer as well," said Paul Rose of SFMTA.

Sewer lines that are more than 150 years old will be replaced while the roadway is torn-up.

"They're old, and it's time to upgrade them and this project allows us to fix the corridor from the ground up," Rose said.

The project is estimated to cost $316 million and will take around three years to complete.