The Kearny Street Footbridge at Portsmouth Square Has Been Demolished

The pedestrian bridge that carried people across Kearny Street into Portsmouth Square is gone. San Francisco Public Works crews took down its support columns and removed the shoring in early August, and the SFMTA’s August 27 traffic advisory records the demolition as complete.

Why It Came Down

Removing the bridge is one line in the $73 million Portsmouth Square Improvement Project. San Francisco Recreation and Parks broke ground on June 9, 2026, and the park closed to the public the following day for a renovation the department estimates at about two years, with reopening expected in 2028.

The rest of the work replaces most of what was there. The plans include a flexible outdoor event space with an elevated stage, an 8,500-square-foot community clubhouse with an assembly area and meeting rooms, a shade structure, a new playground, adult fitness equipment, new planting, irrigation and lighting, and additional seating. Crews are also replacing the waterproofing and drainage on the roof of the parking garage the square sits on, and rebuilding the connections between the square and the surrounding Chinatown streets.

What the Bridge Was

The walkway spanned Kearny Street between the square and the Hilton San Francisco Financial District at 750 Kearny, the building that houses the Chinese Culture Center. It let people cross above the traffic instead of waiting at the light. Removal of the bridge is written into the project scope as a permanent change, not temporary construction work, so nothing is going back up in its place.

Portsmouth Square Itself

The square at 745 Kearny Street is San Francisco’s oldest public plaza. On July 9, 1846, Captain John B. Montgomery of the USS Portsmouth landed with a party of men and raised the United States flag there, and the plaza was named for the ship later that year. California’s first public school opened at the southwest corner in 1848, and the eastern terminus of the world’s first cable car line was installed at the square in 1873. In recent decades it has served as Chinatown’s main outdoor gathering space, used through the day for tai chi, card games and community events.

What This Means If You Are Visiting Chinatown

Portsmouth Square is closed and fenced, so the walk between Chinatown and the Financial District now happens at street level on Kearny, Washington and Clay. The Chinatown-Rose Pak Station on the T Third line, at Stockton and Washington, is two blocks uphill from the square and is unaffected.

Two other Chinatown projects are running at the same time. The Broadway Tunnel is down to one lane in each direction for roughly 14 months during the Chinatown Public Health Center renovation, and San Francisco Public Works is managing a third project in the neighborhood. Drivers should allow extra time.

Grant Avenue, one block west, is not affected. The Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival still runs there on September 19 and 20.

Project details from San Francisco Recreation and Parks and from Bay City News coverage of the June groundbreaking.

Photo: San Francisco Department of Public Works, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.