Starting today, two blocks of Stockton Street between Union Square and Market Street will be closed to make way for construction crews burrowing below street-level on the $1.6 billion Central Subway project. The closure should be in effect before the downtown crowd starts heading home from their Financial District offices this afternoon.

Sidewalks along that stretch of Stockton, which runs between the Union Square Macy's on Geary Street and the Apple Store at the corner of Stockton and Ellis, will remain open until the closure ends in 2017. So we won't fret over lost business at the Ferrari Store, we guess. The roadway will also be open during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, when there's a moratorium on construction in the city's busiest shopping district.

To help cope with some of the increased traffic in the area, SFMTA has converted Grant Street into a two-way street between Geary and Sutter. The Ellis Street entrance to the Powel Street Muni/BART Station may also close in the near future. The controversial subway, remember, won't open until 2019.

Previously: Opponents of Central Subway Have New Delay Tactic: Union Square Station Deemed Illegal, All Central Subway coverage on SFist

[BCN/Appeal]