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SFO Repaving Reprieve

The news that SFO will be shutting down runways 1Left and 1Right should give us, the poor neighbors to the airport, some summer reprieve from take-off back blast noise. 1L and 1R are the short ones that go out towards the East Bay and contribute most of the noise that washes over B’game during inversion layers. The Comicle notes

Ten percent of all flights at San Francisco International Airport could face delays amid a massive runway rehabilitation project that begins next month and could last into November.

Crews are set to close Runway 1 Right on March 30 to repave the asphalt and realign nearby taxiways, shifting all takeoffs and landings to runways 28 Left and 28 Right. Runway 1 Left, which borders the construction zone, would be converted into a temporary taxiway to ease bottlenecks before planes depart.

SFO’s director of project management, Claudia Luquin, described the $200 million repaving and excavation work as “fast-paced,” and “highly sensitive” during a recent airport commission meeting. Overall, she said, it will help keep the airport in a state of good repair and improve safety.

We discussed the sinking runways and sea walls needed to counter “sea level rise” back in December 2023 here along with proposed legislation about the noise that has gone…..nowhere since. But at least we get “emergency townhall meetings” about ICE and glossy mailers about “affordability”.

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3 responses to “SFO Repaving Reprieve”

  1. resident

    This project can’t start soon enough.

  2. resident

    The delays are starting to bite. The Chronicle says San Francisco International Airport’s average delay time has quadrupled this year in the wake of runway construction and a federal order restricting landings.

    A Chronicle analysis found that between April 1 and June 10, 2026, after the federal order took effect, the average flight was delayed by around 20 minutes, up from around 5 minutes in the same period in 2025.

    The airport’s size is constrained by the limited land between Highway 101 and the bay, and parallel runways are only 750 feet apart. There are no plans to expand the airport, which would likely require filling in the bay. A previous expansion effort in 2002 was rejected.

    I think it is time to revisit a new airport out in Contra Costa somewhere. If the build at all cost people have their way we will need it.

  3. Peter Garrison

    Re: Build at all cost…?

    Tsk. So “old school.”

    How about the the visioning of REMOVING neighborhoods to fight climate change?

    From today’s WSJ:

    A similar strategy could be used in areas prone to wildfires and other natural disasters, Stone says. For example, instead of rebuilding Pacific Palisades, it could have been made into a giant fire break to protect the rest of Los Angeles from future wildfires.

    Stone acknowledges that these are difficult decisions and are unlikely to be popular, but he thinks they will eventually become unavoidable: “I don’t think we can adapt to these climate risks in all areas. I think it’s critical to remove populations in a way that leaves them whole. It’s protective of the people we remove, and it’s protective of the people who remain, because then we can use that land for critically needed climate infrastructure.”

    “…remove populations in a way that leaves them whole…”

    Anyone old enough to remember the Vietnam War strategy of “destroying the village to save it.”

    Write to reports@wsj.com

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