The work, which is funded by $33 million in gas-tax revenue the city expects to receive in the upcoming state budget, will take place almost entirely in northeastern and southeastern neighborhoods. It’s just a portion of the road work planned for city streets over the next two years. The mayor’s office said it anticipates spending a total of $90 million on repaving work citywide next year.

District 3, which includes Chinatown, North Beach, and Fisherman’s Wharf, is getting 37% of all the repaving as part of this state-funded project, according to a geocoding analysis by The Standard. About 24% is in District 9, which includes the Mission, and 15% is in District 10, which includes the Bayview and Potrero Hill. A broad swath of Union Street, between Lyon and Powell streets, is also being worked on.

The work will roll out in five phases. The project kicks off in July in the Bayview, with 24 blocks expected to be repaved by March 2028. Work on 50 blocks in the Portola and Excelsior — the largest section — will begin in November and will likely run into summer 2028. 

Early 2027 will see repaving begin at a segment of Front and Sansome streets through the Financial District, Chinatown, and North Beach; a 29-block stretch of the Marina and Russian Hill centered on Union Street; and a 26-block stretch across Chinatown, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights, and Russian Hill. That work should wrap by October 2028.

The city builds its annual repaving priority list based on traffic volume, transit routes, bike lanes, and whether a block already needs underground utility work that can be done at the same time.

District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter said most of the area’s streets are “fine,” but the wear and tear is worsened by high traffic. Having frequent repaving is important, as many cyclists pass through the district, he said. Some stretches of road have been called out as particularly rough. 

“If you drive over Sansome Street, it’s like the surface of the moon,” Sauter said. “Craters everywhere.”