If you've driven west on Pine Avenue since August, you've probably found yourself turned onto a road that didn't exist last spring. Where did the 100 feet of Pine between the two lots on Linden Avenue go?
That stretch is becoming a plaza. The City of South San Francisco is building a new neighborhood park on the parcels at 616 and 700 Linden Avenue and the stretch of Pine between them, about 0.79 acres in all. Residents' votes picked almost everything going into it, from the playground pieces to the mosaics. The thing residents asked for most consistently is a public restroom, and it's the one part that isn't funded yet. Crews have put a pipe in the ground for it anyway.
The street had to go for the park to be one park
The two lots on either side of Pine were never much to look at. According to a City Council staff report from April 2026, 616 Linden was in use as a parking lot. 700 Linden was a mostly empty grass lot with a footpath cut across it. For anyone who has lived here a long time, the 616 parcel goes back further. Volonte Automotive ran a repair shop there from the 1940s to the early 2000s.
Two lots split by a through street would have made two small parks. The design instead reroutes Pine Avenue so it connects to Seventh Lane rather than Linden Avenue. That leaves one continuous park, which the staff report says improves "usability, circulation, and overall park experience."
That reroute explains the new pavement you've been driving on. The timeline so far, from the City's project page for the New Park at Linden Avenue & Pine Avenue:
| Date | What happened on the ground |
|---|---|
| May 8, 2026 | Groundbreaking at 700 Linden Avenue |
| Early June 2026 | Crews begin building the Pine Avenue Extension's curbs, gutters and pavement |
| August 10, 2026 | Pine Avenue Extension opens; Pine closes between the two parcels to cars and pedestrians |
| By October 9, 2026 | About 100 feet of old roadway demolished; new stormwater and sewer lines installed |
| October 26 to November 20, 2026 | One lane closed at Linden and Pine, weekdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., for a new water line |
If you're heading west on Pine this week, the detour still runs through Linden, the new extension and 7th Lane. The Linden Avenue sidewalk stays open. The water-line work at the intersection began Monday, October 26, and is scheduled to run through Friday, November 20. Flaggers will direct traffic through one open lane, and the City doesn't expect any interruption to water service for nearby properties. The new line will connect to the existing main near 703 Linden Avenue.
Old Town picked the playground, piece by piece
The design went through about a year and a half of community engagement before the concept went to City Council in March 2025. That process included open houses at 700 Linden, a pop-up event, a merchants' round table and several surveys.
The playground survey drew mostly from the immediate area, with 87% of responses coming from Old Town residents. The design they chose, Option B, won for its inclusive layout, bright color and variety of play. Based on that input, the play area will include:
- A Multi-Kid Spinner
- A Group Swing
- A Tot Slide
- A climbing structure
- Natural edges around the play space
The survey's top individual picks were the Spiral Net, the Double Slide and the Monkey Bars. Respondents also asked for durable materials, a drinking fountain and restrooms. Beyond the playground, the park plan includes lawn areas, a fitness area, picnic areas, walking paths and the plaza.
The plaza's art came down to a neighborhood vote too
The old roadway is becoming the park's central plaza, and the art on it went through the same kind of public process. The City put out a call for artists in June 2025 that gave preference to artists connected to South San Francisco or the wider Bay Area. It received 34 submissions and narrowed them to a set of finalists. The finalists showed their concepts in person at 700 Linden on October 4, 2025.
In the community poll that followed, mosaic artist J. Muzacz drew 48% of the vote. The next-closest concept, from WowHaus, drew 20%. The Cultural Arts Commission recommended him on November 25, 2025, and City Council approved the selection on December 10.
His concept is called "Punto de Encuentro," or Meeting Point. The City's Cultural Arts page describes three connected pieces. Four columns carry a pattern inspired by serape blankets. Floral mosaic inlays spread across the plaza pavement. A play sculpture takes the form of an Alebrije, a whimsical mythical creature, covered in geometric spirals that stand for the life cycle in Zapoteca symbology. The columns and inlays are meant to make the plaza "a dynamic, colorful stage for performances, markets, and other gatherings." So the old stretch of Pine is being designed as a place for events.
Foundations for the playground structure, light poles, outdoor fitness equipment and public art are next on the construction schedule.
The one request that didn't make the budget
Residents asked for one thing over and over that the park hasn't fully delivered. The April staff report says a public restroom was not part of the original scope or budget. Even so, "residents, park users, and local merchants consistently identified access to a public restroom as essential to the park's success." One reason given was to cut down on how often people rely on nearby private businesses.
The City tested the idea before spending money on it. Starting in late September 2025, it partnered with Throne Inc. on a free, subscription-based portable restroom at the site. The unit had a flushing toilet, a running-water sink, a baby changing station and 24/7 remote monitoring. People got in by QR code or text message, or with a free access card picked up at the Grand Avenue Library on Walnut Avenue. Early figures in a City Council report counted more than 250 users by mid-October, with over 30% returning. Use clustered around 8 a.m., 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. Those three peaks line up roughly with the morning commute, lunch and the evening commute. Over about five months, staff found the restroom "well received" and said it "reduced restroom demand on nearby businesses."
The numbers from bidding explain where things stand. Azul Works, Inc. was the lowest of five bidders at $3,295,000, which is $155,000 under the engineer's estimate. The bid also priced an optional add-on, a prefabricated single-stall restroom, at $440,000. That's lower than the $750,000 to $1,000,000 staff had estimated earlier for a permanent restroom, but the project still couldn't cover it. Staff wrote that there was "insufficient funding to include the restroom," and recommended the base bid alone. The same report brought the total project budget to $5,950,000. That figure includes an extra $150,000 for restroom design and infrastructure, and the money comes from park fees, a $3.2 million State Parks grant and developer contributions.
The restroom question isn't closed, though. Staff said the base-bid approach keeps the option of a contract-managed restroom such as Throne once the park is finished, and keeps the infrastructure in place for a permanent prefabricated restroom later. Crews have already followed through. The October 9 update lists a sewer line installed "to accommodate a potential future restroom." The pipe is in the ground, and the decision about what connects to it hasn't been made yet.
Old Town's parking is changing at the same time
The park isn't the only reason downtown parking feels different this fall. The 616 Linden parcel being turned into park was a parking lot. Separately, the public lot at 522 Linden Avenue closed for good on September 1, 2026. It had been extra downtown parking since October 2024, and the Rotary Club property it sits on is needed for the 500 Linden development, according to the City's announcement.
Neighbors raised this early. At the March 2025 open house, their questions centered on soil quality, traffic, parking enforcement and park operations. When councilmembers reviewed the preferred concept, they asked about parking time limits and pressed for continued outreach to nearby residents and businesses about construction. On soil, the City's site history says that after the old repair shop's underground tanks were removed in 1993 and the case was closed in 2001, June 2023 testing confirmed the property is suitable for park use under state policy.
When you can actually use it
Sources disagree on timing. The City's project page projects an opening in early 2027, and so does Azul Works. The schedule in the April staff report lists mid-2027. Plan on sometime in the first half of next year. The park doesn't have a formal name yet; City materials still call it the New Park at Linden Avenue & Pine Avenue. Updates are posted at ssfca.gov/ParkProjects.
Until then, the corner is a work zone, and the lane closure is scheduled through November 20. If you're downtown before the fencing comes down, the rest of Old Town is still open for business. Our guide to eating along Grand Avenue is a few blocks away. For another South San Francisco space that took shape with residents involved from the start, see the skate plaza inside the Centennial Way trail.
Living a few blocks from a construction fence means a lot of questions about your street, from detours to what a new park and plaza could mean for your home. We follow these changes across South San Francisco closely and are happy to talk them through, in English, Tagalog or Ilocano. If you own near Linden and want a starting point, Bryan Cruz and Rey Ancheta can help you get your instant home valuation.
