Whether the 49ers win or lose Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, SFPD and the Highway Patrol say they're still shutting down streets and highway off-ramps in anticipation of the rowdy public lunacy that may break out in the Mission District.
In years past, your San Francisco 49ers’ playoff victories have often set off sideshows, fireworks, and Muni bus tagging (mixed with more good-natured celebratory revelry) in the Mission District. And the SFPD has tried a few tactics to limit the degree of all hell that breaks loose, by shutting down Mission District streets and highway off-ramps as they did after the Niners’ NFC Championship Game win this past January 28.
With even more mayhem possible in the 49ers win the Super Bowl on Sunday, SFPD just announced they’re closing Mission District streets and off-ramps again early Sunday evening — whether the 49ers win or lose.
SFPD’s Thursday morning press release can be seen above. “Travelers should anticipate delays as there will be traffic closures in the Mission District and MUNI buses will be rerouted in some areas throughout the city,” the release states. “The California Highway Patrol will also be closing freeway off-ramps much like they did for the NFC championship game.”
Okay, but that doesn’t disclose where or when any street closures, Muni reroutes, or off-ramp closures will take effect. Though it’s reasonable to assume that these will be similar to the previous closures that were in effect two Sundays ago, which contained the celebrations pretty well, though there was one non-fatal shooting.
Naturally, they closed car access on Mission Street between 16th and Cesar Chavez streets, and similar blocks on Valencia Street too. They also closed 24th Street to cars between Mission and Harrison streets, and of course fireworks ensued. Expect the same Sunday.
They also rerouted several Muni lines starting at 5:30 p.m. on that particular Sunday, which is likely to happen again this weekend. These rerouted lines were:
- 14 Mission
- 14R Mission Rapid
- 27 Bryant
- 48 Quintara/24th Street
- 49 Van Ness/Mission
- 67 Bernal Heights
And the off-ramp closures that the CHP enacted after that last 49ers win, closures that were in effect from 7 p.m.-midnight, were as follows:
- US-101 Southbound, Cesar Chavez St. off-ramp
- US-101 Northbound, Cesar Chavez St. off-ramp
- US-101 Northbound, Mission St./Duboce St. off-ramp
- I-280 Northbound, San Jose Ave off-ramp
- I-280 Northbound, Geneva Ave off-ramp
- I-280 Southbound, Geneva Ave off-ramp
Again, we're just speculating based on what SFPD and CHP did two weekends ago, which was largely successful. A win or a loss could affect the degree of closures. Neither agency has announced the specifics for this Sunday yet, just that there will indeed be closures. We may have more updates on all this as Super Bowl Sunday approaches.
And as a reminder, the Super Bowl is at 3:30 p.m. Sunday, and will likely wrap up sometime after 7 p.m.
Image: Joe Kukura, SFist
