The Cesar Chavez Street redesign, an inter-agency effort, focuses on safety and efficiency and will occur in two phases.

The first phase, which is likely to start this summer, involves redoing the sewage system to reduce flooding.

Above ground, the second phase will involve planting more trees, using energy-efficient street lights and converting  the three lanes of traffic in each direction to two lanes.  With concerns over safety, a 14-foot tree-lined median and widened curbs will be paved to decrease the time needed for pedestrians to cross the intersection. Bicyclists will also be able to enjoy the additional street space through permanent bike lanes.

The redesign has brought attention to the day laborers along Cesar Chavez Street, most of whom object to the city’s plans to relocate them at a new site on Bayshore Boulevard.

Roel Aguirre, supervisor of La Raza Centro Legal’s Day Labor Program, said Wednesday that the change could be a good thing.

“People are going to go where the work is,” Aguirre said. “If they want to work, they’ll get there — whether they walk there or bike.”

Related Stories:

Day Labor Center Offers Few Jobs, December 13, 2009

Redesign Could Relocate Day Laborers, January 19, 2010

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Kimberly is currently a journalism major and business minor at San Francisco State University. Come May 2010, she will be moving on to bigger and better things, i.e. living and breathing journalism, not just studying it. But for now you can usually find her at City Hall every Tuesday at the Board of Supervisors meetings. Having lived her entire life in San Francisco, she itches to travel far and wide, most likely to be convinced that every other city and town pales in comparison.

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  1. Kimberly,

    Thanks for responding! I truly appreciate it and am impressed. I’m not surprised to hear they object to being moved out. After all, if they wanted to go, they wouldn’t be there. I remain skeptical, however, about where they come from. They are not the “type” of guy I see on 24th Street. But I’ve not checked into it, and you have, so I’ll assume you are correct.

    Nala

    Reply

  2. “The redesign has brought attention to the day laborers along Cesar Chavez Street, most of whom object to the city’s plans to relocate them at a new site on Bayshore Boulevard.”

    “Most” object? What, 51%? Or 99%? Or something in between? What’s the real number? And what is the basis for this claim? Sorry, but this sounds like hearsay to me. And, if any kind of real data are going to be collected from these guys, find out where they come from as well. Are these local men, who live in the Mission? Or are they from elsewhere? As a Mission resident, this would make a difference to me. If my neighbors are messing up the neighborhood, that’s one thing, because it’s their neighborhood, too. But if guys are coming here in coyotes’ vans, or on BART, and messing up my streets, my sympathy drops.

    Reply

    1. Hi Nala,

      This information comes from going to speak to directly with several day laborers, and as you can imagine, it would be difficult to get precise figures that would be representative of every single person. Of the ones we spoke to, most said that they live in or near the Mission and all objected to leaving Cesar Chavez Street.

      Kimberly

      Reply