Repairing a staircase railing along the J Church during our first Fix-It Weekend.
This Transit Month, we are going behind the scenes of our work to improve Muni rides citywide.
To close out our series, we highlight a maintenance milestone: our first Fix-It Weekend. Our crews usually do extensive inspections, repairs and upgrades during a week-long event every few months. These Fix-It Weeks build on our standard overnight maintenance work to help us keep Muni safe and reliable.
In August we tried something new -- a Fix-It Weekend. We did this along the J Church line to overlap with a planned closure by PG&E. Muni motorized the J Church with buses for 48 hours. This allowed our crews to do work that cannot be completed during standard overnight maintenance.
Learn how our teams made big upgrades in just 48 hours – and why this work improves your rides.
Crews work on overhead wires and utility poles.
A first-of-its-kind partnership
For this first-time, large-scale project, our agency leveraged the PG&E work period to complete our own infrastructure, safety and operations tasks at the same time. This meant our teams could coordinate across work zones.
As PG&E teams replaced or repaired 11 poles and transformers at 11 locations, our teams took on a wide range of Muni maintenance projects. The result: both crews made the most of every hour while reducing impacts on the community.
"Bundling several jobs together, as we did in August, is a prime example of one way PG&E reduces impact on our customers. San Francisco customers experienced fewer planned outages, fewer lane closures and reduced traffic impacts," said Jake Zigelman, Vice President for PG&E's Bay Area Region.
“Our partnership with the SFMTA allowed for both organizations to complete critical work with fewer disruptions to Muni and the larger community. It's a win-win that saves everyone time, money and inconvenience."
Removing vegetation near tracks for the J Church.
Making your ride safer and more reliable
With this extended maintenance window, our crews were able to do deeper inspections and larger-scale repairs. Both areas support Muni’s long-term health. Keeping our infrastructure in a state of good repair ensures safe, reliable transit for the community.
Here’s a short list of what SFMTA teams were able to achieve:
- Supported 11 PG&E pole and transformer replacement projects across three zones and 11 locations. This provided a safe work zone for all PG&E and SFMTA personnel.
- Installed 50 signs, 30 lane delineators and over 200 reflectors
- Installed fencing, poles and a crossover access gate
- Welded 40 guardrails
- Installed new boarding platform gap-fillers and street striping
- Trimmed trees and removed vegetation in the Dolores Park area Right of Way
- Installed LRV overhead wire, components and pole foundations
- Painted guardrails and installed accessible ramp gap fillers
- Repainted street striping
- Repaired broken concrete in track areas
The SFMTA’s Maintenance of Way (MOW) department coordinated maintenance teams and partners from its Track, Overhead Lines, Facilities Building and Grounds and Mechanical Systems teams, as well as the Streets Paint Shop. Maintenance of Way staff also provided direct oversight of PG&E’s work to ensure everything was completed safely and efficiently.
Coordinated work zones
To stay organized, SFMTA project managers developed a strategy to coordinate the overall project. It involved three zones with multiple work sites along Market and Church streets and San Jose Avenue. This way, crews were able to focus on specific areas while still working as one coordinated team.
Why it matters
Our first Fix-It! Weekend showed what’s possible when agencies work together. By partnering with PG&E, we were able to make critical upgrades in a 48-hour window. This work would have otherwise required multiple overnight closures. It’s another way we’re investing in Muni’s reliability and keeping our system in a state of good repair.