People warned to avoid downtown SF during APEC

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference, one of the biggest gatherings of world leaders in San Francisco in 78 years, is expected to bring traffic jams to the city with closures of freeway offramps and downtown streets.

“If you don’t have to be in downtown San Francisco, don’t go. Or if you do, take public transit. BART or Muni Metro will not be affected,” Ryan Leong, a spokesperson for Caltrans, told SFGATE. “This is like the presidential inauguration, but instead of D.C. it’s in San Francisco. If people have business in the downtown area in the coming weeks, avoid the area.”

Some streets will shut down as early as Tuesday. People in San Francisco may find it difficult to get around as law enforcement implements detours and checkpoints all over downtown. 

The annual conference will take over downtown SF, mainly near Moscone Center and Yerba Buena Gardens, from Nov. 11 to 17, and is expected to be attended by more than 20,000 people, including delegates and several world leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The U.S. last hosted APEC in 2011.

Starting Nov.14, lanes and offramps on some highways in and around San Francisco will close for security measures. The following highways will be affected by APEC:

Closed Nov. 15 to 17, 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. (daily)

• Eastbound 4th Street offramp
• Westbound 5th Street offramp

Closed Nov. 14 at 5 a.m. to Nov. 17 at 9 p.m.

• Eastbound far-left lane (San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge)
• Westbound far-right lane
• Controlled access to Bay Bridge pedestrian and bike path

Closed Nov. 14 to Nov. 18

• Northbound Dana Bowers Vista Point offramp
• Vehicles, bicycles and pedestrians will not be able to access Dana Bowers Vista Point
• Golden Gate Bridge Pedestrian Path will be closed at the north side of the bridge and pedestrians will not be able to access it from Marin County

During the closures, California Highway Patrol vehicles will flash their lights and redirect people on the bridge, Leong said.

“As far as bike path access, it’s not going to exist,” Leong said. “CHP will be stationed on each side of the path to make sure that only residents and employees of Treasure Island are using the bike path.”

The following streets will be closed, Nov. 7 to 18: 

• Mission Street from 5th Street to 2nd Street
• Howard Street from 5th Street to 4th Street
• Folsom Street from 4th Street to Hawthorne Street
• 4th Street from Market Street to Shipley Street
• 3rd Street from Jessie Street to St. Francis Place
• Hawthorne Street between Folsom Street and Howard Street
• New Montgomery Street between Jessie Street and Natoma Street
• Powell Street between Washington Street and Pine Street
• Sacramento Street from Taylor Street to Jones Street
• California Street from Taylor Street to Jones Street
• Pine Street between Mason Street and Powell Street
• Mason Street from California Street to Pine Street
• Cushman Street from Sacramento Street to California Street

Many roads, pedestrians and public transportation services near the Moscone Center, the Embarcadero and the Nob Hill neighborhood will be affected during the event due to increased security measures, the San Francisco Police Department said in an Oct. 18 statement.

The United States Secret Service designated some areas as security zones and will restrict or limit access to some areas of the city. As part of the security measures, those who plan on walking or driving through the closed areas will be asked to detour to marked locations, show identification and may be searched by officials, police said. 

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security declared APEC a National Special Security Event (NSSE), meaning it has special resources from the federal and local governments to increase its security. This is the first NSSE event to ever occur in the state, San Francisco Mayor London Breed said in an Oct. 18 statement. 

Most security checkpoints will be in the areas near Moscone Center and Yerba Buena Gardens, according to a city map of the disruptions. The list of security checkpoints for vehicles, bicyclists and pedestrians can be found from SFMTA.

For those who need to drive downtown, local traffic will be allowed on various streets. Drivers may experience detours on some streets; a complete list is available from SFMTA. Pedestrians and bicyclists will also experience detours as many of the streets are closed.

In addition to traffic delays, the conference will also affect some of the public transportation services in San Francisco, with the biggest hit from Nov. 13 to 19. 

Several Muni stops will be rerouted around security zones, starting on Nov. 13, SFMTA said. Most of the affected Muni lines are those in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood and the Nob Hill neighborhood. The list of rerouted Muni service can be found here: