This weekend will be a particularly challenging one for anyone driving downtown, with the simultaneous arrival of the Chinese Flower Market Fair, the NFL Experience and Super Bowl City. SFMTA has posted a web page outlining all of the closures and detours.
Super Bowl City setup.
Super Bowl City closures started Jan. 23rd; the Embarcadero is shut down from Washington Street to Don Chee Way, and Market Street is closed from Beale to the Embarcadero. A number of bus lines are affected (SFMTA has a map online), but four of the five BART/Muni entrances/exits at Embarcadero station are still accessible outside of the Super Bowl City perimeter. (The Spear Street exit is within the fenced-off area.)
If you haven't seen Super Bowl City, it's definitely worth a visit. It will include live performances, a Fan Dome with interactive games, a Fan Wall with stats and social media, broadcast centers, sponsor buildings, and, we hear, possibly a zip line. Here are more details on what's going down.
The NFL Experience at Moscone Center also means closures in that area. SFMTA's website warns, "Due to numerous street closures, vehicle and pedestrian traffic may be heavy. Your best option may be to take the Muni Metro Subway to Powell station."
As for Super Bowl City-related road closures: Some reports have said that the SFMTA has closed the Embarcadero at Broadway, instead of Washington Street. For the most part, that's not true, says spokesperson Paul Rose. "The primary detour remains at Washington. When congestion causes a large backup, our parking control officers will start to detour at Broadway to relieve pressure. This is only done in extreme cases."
This weekend, many of Chinatown's streets will be closed as well. The Chinese Flower Market will take place on Grant Avenue from Clay Street to Broadway, and on Pacific Avenue, Jackson Street and Washington Street between Stockton and Kearny streets. The 10 and 12 bus lines will be re-routed.
The market includes not only fresh flowers, fruits, candies and other new lunar year supplies to celebrate the Year of the Monkey, but also performances by traditional Chinese magicians, acrobats, folk dancers and opera singers. Because of the Super Bowl, Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade was pushed back to Feb. 20th.
Don't let all this traffic news scare you away: both the flower market fair and Super Bowl City are free and open to the public, and they're within walking distance of each other and of numerous trains and buses, making them easy to attend via public transit. It's also a great time to be a pedestrian downtown, thanks to the numerous street closures.
We also heard from a Ferry Building employee that business has been slow there, so now might be an ideal time to check out some of the new kiosks for a Marla Bakery pastry, Sow juice, Blue Bottle coffee, or Fort Point beer.
