Together with community partners, Public Works is transforming the beloved 2-mile-long greenbelt that connects Golden Gate Park and Lake Merced.

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the San Francisco Public Works Sunset Greenbelt Connection digital newsletter – a platform to provide Sunset District residents and other interested community members with regular updates on the greening, maintenance and infrastructure work we’re doing to continue improving the Sunset Boulevard corridor.

We're proud to report that Public Works is leading both short- and long-term initiatives to transform the iconic San Francisco greenway.

• With the changing climate, we’re reimagining the corridor to support sustainable, drought-tolerant plantings, a healthy urban forest and a beautiful design to meet present-day and future needs.

• Public Works is committed to working with neighbors, nonprofits, elected officials and partner agencies to advance this goal.

In this issue, you’ll learn about our gardeners’ work mowing and weed removal along the greenbelt, our arborists’ strategic winter-weather tree care work and our plumbers’ work to upgrade the irrigation system.

We’re excited to announce completion of the Sunset Boulevard paving project overseen by the Public Works Street Resurfacing Program.

We welcome this opportunity to provide updates on both recently completed and upcoming work, allowing you to better track progress and milestones.

We at Public Works cherish this corridor’s capacity as an ecological, recreational, and educational landscape. We look forward to working with community members, and our City’s leadership, to create meaningful public spaces, identify important maintenance projects, create water-wise solutions, and cultivate the biodiversity along Sunset Boulevard.

Please join Public Works as we roll up our sleeves to make this historic greenbelt a treasured asset for today – and the future.

In partnership,

Carla Short

Director, San Francisco Public Works

Irrigation Vault Dig-Out Project

In the early hours of Jan. 25, Public Works’ Bureau of Urban Forestry (BUF) landscape crews began the irrigation vault dig-out project. The goal is to complete the eight dig outs from Lawton Street to Pacheco Street in March.  

In mid-February, BUF landscape laborers continued their work digging out valve boxes on Sunset to prepare for repairs and new boxes. 

Spring maintenance begins

Pictured above: mid-February BUF landscape mowing between Judah and Irving streets, near 36^th Avenue.



Landscape’s monthly maintenance plan includes litter removal, weeding, green waste removal, mowing, pruning shrubs and graffiti abatement inspection. We also are performing critical irrigation infrastructure updates, young tree care maintenance, center median maintenance and gopher abatement.

Feb. 24 Workday

BUF landscape crews were out in force on the morning of Feb. 24.

The work scope included trimming the lawn with specialized hand tools in areas that can't be mowed, weeding tree basins and around benches, and trash removal from Yorba Street to Lake Merced Boulevard and Quintara to Irving streets near 36th and 37th avenues.

The winter rains have caused the native shrubs and trees to grow quickly, making the area a verdant greenway. 

Maintenance and upkeep of San Francisco’s treasured Sunset Boulevard is a high priority for BUF crews and Public Works as a whole. 

Sunset Boulevard paving project completed

The gardeners and laborers were joined Feb. 24 by the Public Works Bureau of Project Management and contractor R&S Construction Management, whose crews were working to elevate storm drains that were uneven and causing problems for motorists.

The storm drains are now level with the road surface, marking the completion of the project, and providing smooth passage for drivers and bicyclists on Sunset Boulevard.

Repairing the Irrigation System

On Feb. 27, the Public Works plumbers and gardeners responded to a call about a leak near Sunset Boulevard and Quintara Street. The plumbers discovered that one of the valves had failed. 

To stop the water, plumbers had to close the backflows on Sunset. The water will temporarily be shut off until the valve can be replaced in coming weeks. These are photos of the failed valve and the backflow cage that was repaired at Sloat and Sunset.

“All the backflows north of Sloat Boulevard are on and the irrigation system is hot again,” Jerry Lehane, Bureau of Building Repair Supervisor, noted on Feb. 21. “As for south of Sloat Boulevard, we replaced both backflow devices at Yorba Street. Upon testing we discovered that both backflows feed the irrigation system south of Sloat. With the amount of leaks present, we could not leave the backflows on. We will need to turn on the system and repair in coming weeks.”

On March 21, Sunset Boulevard maintenance manager Gilbert Fragoso Jr., announced the valve had been successfully repaired and water is flowing again along Sunset Boulevard.  

Late-summer tree pruning initiative

BUF arborists and urban forestry inspectors pruned and assessed the health of large Monterey cypress and Monterey pine trees along Sunset Boulevard in the Parkside neighborhood in late summer.

Arborist supervisor Ricardo Lizarraga led the crew to safely and methodically prune more than 600 trees.

BUF Acting Superintendent Nicholas Crawford, arborist manager Drew Landers, urban forestry inspector captain Susan Nawbary, and arborist supervisor Nili Niu took part in the assessment.

“In the past, we’ve been doing emergency work out here,” Crawford said. “This is our opportunity to go in and really provide the tender loving care for each tree.” 

The strategic pruning project along Sunset Boulevard is credited with fewer limb failures during the 2024-25 winter storms.

“He really has a prescriptive love for the open space,” Landers said, speaking of Lizarraga. “He has a lot of good ideas and he’s implementing those ideas with his crew and it’s really evident in the quality of tree work. He’s pruning this nascent forest as a whole and looking at each tree individually, taking a holistic, natural approach to create habitat and open space.”

In bloom for the May edition of Sunset Greenbelt Connection!

The City Nature Challenge takes place April 25-28. We encourage residents to join us along Sunset Boulevard as we document biodiversity! 

Profile of new Sunset Boulevard maintenance manager Gilbert Fragoso Jr.

Featurette on new wood benches at Muni stops along Sunset



The Sunset Master Plan in a nutshell, recent plantings, and more!

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