$2 Million Grant Awarded to Japantown and Fillmore/Western Addition Neighborhoods
Friends and neighbors,
Exciting news! On March 11, our office was notified by the US Department of Transportation (US DOT) that we were awarded a $2 million Reconnecting Communities grant. This grant will fund the Geary-Fillmore Underpass Community Planning Study, a community-based planning process for reconnecting the Japantown and Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhoods in San Francisco—communities that were divided and harmed by the redevelopment-era construction of the Geary Boulevard/Fillmore underpass in the 1960s.
This grant is a result of a years-long effort from our office in partnership with the SFCTA, and Japantown and Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhoods, to secure these funds. This federal grant will help the community address the racist planning decisions of the past, reconnect the Japantown and Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhoods, and build stronger and more stable communities into the future.
The grant will be administered by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA), which led the application process at the request of my office, with the support of community organizations.
The objective of the Geary-Fillmore Underpass Community Planning Study is to develop transportation and land use concept designs that rethink the urban renewal-era Geary Expressway and advance plans to connect the Japantown and Fillmore/Western Addition neighborhoods and promote community cohesion and livability.
The study will engage the community through a community-led outreach process to develop goals, criteria for evaluation, and concepts by establishing a Community Council with representatives from the Black, Japanese, and Jewish communities that were displaced when the Geary Expressway was constructed, as well as with newer community members. Recommendations will include transportation network connectivity and safety improvements, long-term transit enhancements, development feasibility analyses for potential affordable housing sites, and economic development strategies, anti-displacement strategies, and concept-level urban design guidance.
The $2 million in federal funds will be matched by a $500,000 local contribution from the Transportation Authority’s Prop L transportation sales tax program ($350,000) and the SF Planning Department ($150,000). The study will take place over approximately 2 years and is expected to commence in Fall 2024.
Winning these funds were a priority for our office and community leaders. We are pleased to share this good news with you, and we are looking forward to the start of this important community planning process.
$2M federal grant funds study of reconnecting Fillmore, nearby neighborhoods | SF Examinder
Geary Blvd. divided Japantown and Fillmore. This plan is trying to heal the wound | SF Standard
In solidarity,
Dean Preston, District 5 Supervisor
