For immediate release: Oct. 29, 2014 

Contact: Rachel Gordon, 415-554-6045

CASTRO STREETSCAPE RIBBON-CUTTING CELEBRATION THURSDAY NIGHT 

Marching band, singers, ribbon-cutting and more to mark the corridor upgrades

San Francisco, CA – The community is invited to join Mayor Ed Lee, state Sen. Mark Leno, District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener and neighborhood leaders for the Castro Streetscape improvement project ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Castro Street, from Market to 19thStreets, and 18thStreet, from Hartford to Collingwood streets, will be closed to traffic during the community celebration.

The festivities will include a marching band, blessing by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, musical entertainment, dancing in the streets and the ceremonial cutting of a rainbow ribbon created by Gilbert Baker, who designed the rainbow pride flag.

Celebration details:

• When: Thursday, Oct. 30, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Where: Castro Street at 18thStreet
• What: Community celebration and ribbon-cutting

The Castro Street upgrades, which stretch from Market to 19thstreets,include wider sidewalks, new street trees and landscaping, new street lights, street furniture and bike parking, decorative rainbow-striped crosswalks and a freshly paved roadway in the heart of San Francisco’s historic LGBT neighborhood. 

Other work includes a new water main and upgrades to Muni infrastructure.

The $4.5 million streetscape improvements were funded with proceedsfromthe$248 million Road Repaving and Street Safety Bond, which City voters approved in 2011. The joint project involved San Francisco Public Works, City Planning and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, in partnership with the Castro/Upper Market Community Benefit District and the Castro Merchants Association.

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