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Committee hears $4.8—.9 billion estimate to underground utilities; DPW to scope master plan
Summary
Public Works presented a rough citywide estimate of $4.8—.9 billion to underground remaining overhead utilities and described a $125,000 add-back to scope a master plan; neighborhood coalitions urged equity and a dig-once coordination strategy. Committee continued the item to the call of the chair.
The Land Use Committee on Oct. 16 received an update from Public Works on the status of utility undergrounding in San Francisco, heard neighborhood testimony calling for an expedited master plan and asked DPW to return with a scoped work program.
Deputy Director John Thomas outlined current coverage (about 41% of city roads undergrounded) and estimated approximately 600 miles of streets remain with overhead wires. DPW provided a high-level cost estimate of roughly $4.8—.9 billion to complete undergrounding across the city, including planning and design (~$275 million), direct construction (~$3.5 billion), property conversion/associated work (~$1 billion) and a proposed city conduit/dig-once line (~$287 million).
Thomas compared San Francisco's program to San Diego's long-running undergrounding program (San Diego's goal: full residential undergrounding over ~54 years at ~15 miles per year) and noted funding mechanisms used elsewhere, including CPUC resolutions, surcharges and Rule 20A/20B contributions. He said the city intends to prioritize areas for equity and public-safety concerns and use the $125,000 add-back to develop GIS mapping, analyze San Diego's program in more detail and prepare a master-plan staffing and budget proposal.
Neighborhood advocates and a coalition to Underground Utilities urged the committee to proceed with a formal master plan, emphasized that some outer neighborhoods have paid surcharges for years but received less benefit, and called for coordinated dig-once scheduling to reduce costs.
Lynn Fong of the Bureau of Streets and Mapping said a 2007 task-force report exists as a guide and that DPW aims to return within approximately six months with a more detailed work program and a better sense of full master-plan costs. The committee then voted to continue the item to the call of the chair so DPW can scope the master plan and supply next steps for funding and prioritization.
What happens next: DPW will use the add-back to build a GIS map, analyze San Diego's program further, refine staffing and budget needs, and return to the board with a proposed master-plan schedule and estimated costs.
