Nearly $5 million set aside for planned streetscape improvements on Second Street has been reallocated for other projects in The City following opposition to the SoMa District undertaking.

Supervisor Jane Kim, whose district includes Second Street, was left fuming when the reallocation proposal first came up at last week’s meeting of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, which is governed by the Board of Supervisors.

Kim didn’t find out until the morning of that meeting that the Department of Public Works was recommending against the project due to neighborhood concerns, mostly related to a proposed bike lane on the street. Neither DPW, nor the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which was also working on the project, alerted Kim to potential problems with the Second Street plan.

Because the funding — $4.85 million in total — comes from a federal source, the Authority had to approve an allocation for it this month, or else it would be reclaimed.

As a result, the Authority held a special meeting Tuesday to authorize the reallocation to separate streetscape improvement projects on Cesar Chavez Street and the intersection of Market and Haight streets.

Sonia Jacques, a transportation finance analyst with DPW, said the agency knew in November that the project couldn’t move forward on Second Street. She conceded that communication breakdowns resulted in the department not alerting Supervisor Kim’s office until last week’s Authority meeting.

Following the special vote on Tuesday, Kim said it still wasn’t clear what happened with the Second Street proposal, but she added that discussions on the project should help in preventing another snafu in the future. Both DFW and the SFMTA said they’ll continue to pursue funding opportunities for Second Street improvements.

wreisman@sfexaminer.com