For Immediate Release 

January 15, 2010 

Contact: (415) 554-6926, (415) 596-6229

PUBLIC WORKS TO ACCELERATE WORK ALONG GREAT HIGHWAY TO PROTECT ROADWAY AND OTHER CITY INFRASTRUCTURE

Department Declares Emergency to Get Materials and Contractor in Place to Begin Erosion Control

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – The Department of Public Works (DPW) issued a declaration of emergency today to protect a bluff along the Great Highway just south of Sloat Boulevard. DPW is taking action to ensure public safety and to protect the roadway and the Lake Merced Wastewater Tunnel.

DPW has already realigned lanes of southbound Great Highway south of Sloat Boulevard away from the cliff. The department also hired Coastal Engineering and Geotechnical firms to assess short term mitigation options after recent storm surges caused more than 30 feet of the bluff to fall, eroding the hillside close to the south bound lanes of the Great Highway.

The department declared the emergency in order to engage contractors and purchase materials for immediate mitigation measures, which will begin in the next several weeks. The realignment of the road will remain in place as the city begins work to protect the coastal bluff from wave action by stabilizing the base of the cliff at the shoreline.