In the Works - Community Newsletter - June 2020 | Page 19

With the COVID-19 health
crisis still gripping the region, the
nation and much of the world,
Public Works has remained on
the frontline of San Francisco’s
response.
Much of our attention this month
has been on the Tenderloin and
the nearby Lower Polk alleys,
where efforts are underway to
move people from encampments
that sprawl across the sidewalks
into safer and healthier living
situations. Unsheltered residents
are being moved into hotel rooms
or into what are known as safe
sleeping sites.
The work has involved numerous
City agencies, among them
Human Services, Public Health,
Homelessness and Supportive
Housing, Fire and the Healthy
Streets Operation Center team,
as well as partnerships with
nonprofit service providers and
community members.
For our part, Public Works
has been building out the safe
sleeping sites. At a minimum, our
painters put down markings for
designated tent sites to allow for
social distancing. At the larger
locations, our plumbers have
brought in water spigots and
our electricians have hooked up
charging stations. All have toilets
and hand-washing facilities. Sites
include Fulton Street between the
Main Library and the Asian Art
Museum; 180 Jones St.; Haight
and Stanyan streets; Everett
Middle School; and the 700 block
of Eddy Street.
Our Building Design and
Construction Division, which
collaborates closely with our
Operations Division, continues to
scout new locations.
Our street cleaning crews,
meanwhile, do a deep clean of
the areas where the makeshift
encampments once stood.
Public Works also manages the
Pit Stop public toilet program,
which we expanded to 33 new
locations to augment the 24
locations in operation prior to
shelter in place. All the toilets are
staffed to ensure they are kept
clean and safe, and most are open
around the clock. In addition,
we are overseeing the COVIDresponse
handwashing stations
that have been set up in areas
with the most need.
On another front, our permits
bureau has been working with
other City agencies to develop
and implement the Shared Spaces
program that allows businesses
emerging from the shelter-inplace
shutdown to use sidewalk
and curbside spaces to serve
their patrons with more social
distancing.
And like all City departments,
Public Works has employees
deployed to the citywide
Emergency Operations Center,
working on planning, logistics,
communications, operations,
finance and other critical needs
to keep our City moving forward
during this unprecedented
pandemic.
We are proud and honored to
serve the people of San Francisco
during this challenging time.
Photo (left): Robert Milton
and Isaias Vidal take a break
from an encampment cleanup.
Photo (right): Wooden stakes
are just some of the debris
that Isaias Vidal picks up in
the hot spots.