Presidio Heights has two front doors into the Presidio. One is the Arguello Gate at the top of Arguello Boulevard. The other is the Presidio Avenue Gate, where Presidio Boulevard curves down toward the Main Post. This fall the Presidio Trust is working on the roads behind both, and the projects point the same way. Cars go slower, sidewalks get wider, and bikes get more room. Most of this work falls under the Trust's Paving Plus project, a multi-year effort that began in 2024 to repave roads, rebuild sidewalks and curb ramps, and add bikeways across the park.
The timing makes more sense once you see what sits at the bottom of the hill. Since August, the Main Post side of Tunnel Tops has had something it never really had before, an everyday place to get coffee, lunch and a carton of milk. The work on both gates and the new food hall belong to the same story.
The Arguello Gate: Already Slower, With More Changes Coming
Arguello has been the test case. In late 2023 and early 2024, the Trust added speed cushions, narrowed the travel lanes in key spots, installed K71 bollards, and added new markings and signs between the Arguello Gate and Washington Boulevard. According to the Trust's Arguello project page, average speeds dropped from 28 mph northbound and 26 mph southbound to 20 mph in both directions, based on three months of data after the changes. The Trust worked on those changes with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Kid Safe SF, and the San Francisco Cycling Club, and says it will use their feedback in the next phase.
That next phase has two parts on very different schedules.
- Repaving and sidewalks. The Paving Plus page, last updated in May 2026, lists Arguello Boulevard for repaving, new sidewalks and curb ramps, and new traffic calming where Moraga Avenue meets Arguello. It gives the timing as "Summer 2026" and warns of intermittent closures and detours.
- The Washington Boulevard junction. The Trust's access and safety page puts the bigger job, regrading the Arguello and Washington intersection and improving its bike infrastructure, in 2027/28.
Cyclists hoping for protected lanes the whole way up will have to keep waiting. On the same project page, the Trust says protected bike lanes on both sides of Arguello aren't possible "at this time" because of the road's width, its side slopes, and sensitive habitat nearby.
The trees along this route are changing too. Starting in August 2026, the Trust began replacing aging cypress and pine groves with young trees and a native understory at four sites, including the Arguello and Washington Boulevard corridors. The Army first planted the Presidio forest in the 1880s, and it now holds about 70,000 trees, many of them reaching the end of their natural lives. A September roundup in the San Francisco Business Times described the reforestation as underway this fall. If the canopy above Arguello looks thinner on your next walk in, that's why.
The Presidio Avenue Gate: Presidio Boulevard Gets Rebuilt
The eastern gate is where the biggest construction is this fall. Presidio Boulevard is on the Trust's list for repaving, better bike lanes and sidewalks, and new traffic calming near the Lovers Lane trail. The Trust's access and safety page calls the bike lanes "new protected bike lanes." For anyone who takes Lovers Lane down from the Presidio Avenue end, the traffic calming is the detail that matters most. That's where the trail meets the road.
The plan expects fewer parking spaces during construction and intermittent closures and detours for drivers, cyclists, and people on foot. Farther down, the Trust is restoring the historic traffic island on Presidio Boulevard between Funston Avenue and Mesa Street, with new curb ramps, sidewalks, and crosswalks around it. Moraga Avenue, Funston Avenue, Mesa Street, and the parking area by the Presidio Officers' Club are part of the same Main Post package.
In a March 2026 Q&A on the Presidio's blog, Trust transportation project manager Calvin Gee pointed to the "cannonball curbs" around the landscaping on historic Funston Avenue near Presidio Boulevard and Mesa Street. These are actual cannonballs set in place to frame and protect the plantings. He said he hopes to add more of them wherever they are historically accurate.
The schedule has moved, so treat it loosely. That same Q&A said the team hoped "to have the work wrapped up by the end of the year." The Paving Plus page says construction would begin in summer and continue through fall. The access and safety page now says the Main Post work starts in fall 2026. In September, the Business Times roundup said repaving, sidewalk connections, and bike-safety work were continuing around the Main Post, including near the Visitor Center and Officers' Club. Check the Paving Plus page before you head out, especially if you're driving down to park. Gee also said that Colibri, Baptiste Power Yoga, Inn at the Presidio, the Presidio Officers' Club, and Presidio Theatre all stay open during construction.
Where the Downhill Walk Now Ends
Follow either route to the bottom and you reach The Mess Hall at the Presidio, 201 Halleck Street, next to Presidio Tunnel Tops. It opened on Saturday, August 15. Founders Nate Leonard and Rob Gaon run three restaurants out of one shared open kitchen, and they brought in Peter Serpico, former head chef and opening partner at Momofuku Ko in New York, as a consultant, according to The San Francisco Standard.
| Counter | What it serves |
|---|---|
| Boda | Korean-Japanese: Korean fried chicken, kimchi fried rice, mandu |
| Breadwinner | Breakfast sandwiches, smashburgers, salads, subs, including a porchetta and Philly roast pork hybrid |
| Day Boat | Raw oysters, shrimp cocktail, crudo, clam chowder, build-your-own handrolls |
| Coffee bar | Wrecking Ball coffee and Breadbelly pastries, from 7 a.m. |
A detail that matters to close neighbors: the Standard reported that the Mess Hall plans to work as a neighborhood market for the roughly 3,000 people who live in the Presidio and its 200 businesses. It stocks basics like Rize Up sourdough and milk, which are hard to find on the former base. Leonard told the Standard, "We wouldn't have done this if it was anywhere else." He gave SFGATE a broader version of the same idea.
"We really want to be people's place in the park. However they show up, we're going to meet them."
People came quickly. SFGATE reported 2,000 orders in the first six hours on opening Saturday, and the hall was still crowded the following Monday. On that Monday, Breadbelly pastries were gone by 9 a.m. after a 7 a.m. opening. Eater SF added the Mess Hall to its September 2026 heatmap of new restaurants. In August, SFGATE listed hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Hours often change after an opening season, so check the Mess Hall's site before planning an evening around it. The view from the bar takes in the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the dome of the Palace of Fine Arts, with about 88 seats inside and 120 outside.
Two other things are worth knowing about the bottom of the hill. The Presidio Pop Up food trucks ran their 2026 season from May 25 through October, so they're wrapping up as the Mess Hall settles in for its first winter. And closer to the Lombard Gate, Fieldwork Brewing has signed a lease for the former Presidio Social Club at 563 Ruger Street. The Trust says the taproom will offer craft beer, cocktails, nonalcoholic drinks, a full food menu, and brunch, with opening projected for early 2027. "Fieldwork at the Presidio will be a touchstone for our company for years to come," co-founder and CEO Barry Braden said in the Trust's announcement.
Two Ways to Spend the Next Few Weekends
You can also help with the replanting along Arguello. The Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy runs Presidio Forest Stewards on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon, caring for young trees through planting, weeding, and mulching. Upcoming sessions are October 30 and November 6, 13, and 20. The meeting spot is sent after you register.
Closer to home, Emily Joubert Home and Garden in Laurel Village is hosting a Halloween parade and costume contest on Saturday, October 31, from noon to 1:30 p.m. The contest is named for Mars the canary, prizes are promised, and the listing says all are welcome. After the parade, the walk from Laurel Village up to the Arguello Gate and down to Tunnel Tops takes in nearly everything in this post.
At Govoni Real Estate Team, we follow changes like these because they shape everyday life on these blocks, from which gate you use to where you pick up coffee. If you have questions about the Presidio projects or about what's changing near your street, we're glad to talk them through over coffee, wherever you'd like. Contact Us.
