On Geary Boulevard, the great chasm that separates the Fillmore from Japantown and Pac Heights could be filled in as the city attempts to tie the neighborhoods back together while making the 38-Geary less of a commuter nightmare in the process. As part of the Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit project, Supervisors London Breed and Eric Mar have asked city agencies to explore the option of filling in the six-lane underpass at Geary and Fillmore.

The hearing will look at the "reunification of the Japantown and Western Addition/Fillmore communities" and other necessary changes that come along with it.

The Geary BRT project, in case you haven't heard about it in the seven years since the idea was first bandied about, is the long-awaited project that will zip Muni buses out to the avenues on dedicated lanes separated from pesky car traffic. When completed, the Geary line will look more like trains with tires than the "Back door! Step down!" articulated buses we have now.

We're still approximately a billion years away from having a speedy way to get out to the avenues on the 38, however -- entire project isn't scheduled to be completed until 2020, or possibly as early as 2018 if work started immediately. Which it won't, because now there's a new hearing about filling in Geary Canyon.

Previously: BRT Not BART (circa 2006)
[SFEx]