County Transportation Authority Board To Consider Funds for Masonic Project

Masonic residents favor a safer, more user-friendly corridor for all

Photo: Michael Helquist

The re-design of Masonic Avenue could move one step closer to implementation Tuesday morning depending on the vote of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA). The Authority's board will consider approving $41,000 of Prop K funds for an environmental review study for the Masonic Streetscape Improvement Project. The board will consider the proposal without a recommendation for action from a committee that reviewed the measure earlier. (The full San Francisco Board of Supervisors serve as the SFCTA Board).

Last week two members of the SFCTA Plans and Programs Committee -- Supervisors Scott Weiner and Carmen Chu -- expressed considerable concern about the removal of parking from Masonic as part of the design plan. They also questioned whether the public had been adequately notified of the project and whether the public was engaged in the planning process. Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi assured them of the comprehensive outreach undertaken, but the two supervisors apparently remained unconvinced and the committee sent the funding request to the full Authority board without recommendation.

Questioning whether the public has been adequately informed can be a legitimate inquiry from someone unfamiliar with developments for a major transportation corridor. Or it can be a knee-jerk reaction to any alteration to public use of public space, especially when parking is involved. For the Masonic improvements, the record of public outreach and notification is so overwhelming that the full Board has little reason to repeat the hesitations of a few committee members.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) conducted one of the most thorough outreach efforts to date to engage the public with plans to make Masonic better and safer for all users. The MTA convened three community meetings over several months with attendance reaching more than 100 for the third one. Participants reviewed every facet of four different designs, refining some and rejecting others. For each meeting Masonic residents and those on nearby blocks were contact door-by-door. For the last meeting the MTA also mailed notices to more than 1400 Masonic households and to those who reside one block away.

The previous Masonic project manager, Javad Mirabdal, now retired, met personally with each of the nearby neighborhood associations to discuss the project. Members from the Ewing Terrace, University Terrace, Anza Vista, and North of the Panhandle groups all discussed with him the impact of design changes -- including removal of parking.

The neighborhood associations also got the word out. The North Panhandle's NOPNA distributes its newsletter to the more than 3500 households located between Masonic and Divisadero, Turk and Fell. Several issues provided updates on the Masonic proposals. Advocacy organizations like the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition with 12,000 members, WalkSF, Fix Masonic and others repeatedly informed its membership of the design options.

Various websites tracked each development of the Masonic plan, including Streetsblog and BIKE NOPA. This site alone published more than a dozen articles about the planning process -- as well as covering the pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities that occurred on Masonic in the last two years.

In addition to neighborhood associations, the Masonic plan received a vote of support from the San Francisco Day School, located at Masonic and Golden Gate, and the Blood Centers of the Pacific at Masonic and Turk.

The degree of public engagement with the Masonic proposal has been remarkable and a testament to the public's desire for safer, traffic-calmed, user-friendly thoroughfares. The SFCTA staff has recommended approval of the funding request and has submitted a full accounting of public outreach at tomorrow's meeting. The argument for approval is persuasive.

San Francisco County Transportation Authority

Tuesday, 11 am

City Hall, Room 250

Check here for the series of articles on A Better Masonic.

Correction: The earlier version of this story mistakenly listed Supervisor Jane Kim as one of the committee members who voiced concerns about the Masonic Project. My apologies to Supervisor Kim.

MTA Proposes Fix for Fell Street/ARCO Hazard

Traffic Mayhem on Fell Street near Divisadero

The Municipal Transportation Authority (MTA) is ready to remove parking spaces along Fell Street just before the ARCO gas station to reduce significant hazards for bicyclists traveling in the bike lane. James Shahamiri, Bicycle Program Assistant Engineer, said the proposal is to remove three parking spaces to create a queuing space outside the bike lane for motorists waiting to enter the gas station. MTA expects to implement the change once the bicycle injunction is lifted. That relief from the court is expected in early November.

The current situation just before the Fell and Divisadero intersection pleases no one. Pedestrians find motorists straddling the sidewalk waiting to enter the ARCO station. Bicyclists find motorists blocking the bike lane awaiting their turn at the lot and are forced to veer into the often speeding Fell Street traffic to get by. And drivers must back up traffic in the lane or endanger pedestrians and bicyclists by blocking their safe passage.

The dangerous location has been well-known to the MTA, yet action like the current proposal has languished. Andy Thornley, Program Director for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition (SFBC), recalled, “We have repeated for so long that this was a very dangerous situation.” Advocates have also warned that the site is such a well-known hazard that the city risks an expensive outcome if an injury or fatality occurs.

The MTA did not include the Fell and Divisadero proposal in its earlier request to the court to permit safety improvements even while the bike injunction was in force. “We didn’t try this one for relief,” Shahamiri said. Others have suggested that a proposal like the current one could easily be pursued by MTA as a traffic mitigation without permission from the court.

A pedestrian was struck and killed by a motorist on Fell Street last month at Broderick Street, a block from the ARCO. The death of Melissa Dennison spurred neighbors to push MTA even more to address the speeding that is a regular feature on Fell and Oak Streets. The two neighborhood associations on the east and west sides of Divisadero have launched a campaign to get MTA to finally slow the traffic on the two residential streets that motorists often treat as freeways. Neighbors contend that enforcement and education are necessary, but many believe real change will come only with structural changes such as re-timing the signal lights to ensure slower travel.

“We are very eager to see this dangerous condition addressed,” SFBC’s Thornley said. “This is a solution similar to what was implemented along the Trader Joe’s lot on Masonic Avenue. We should try this and see how it goes.” He advised that parking removal won’t be enough on its own. “The police and perhaps Parking Control Officers will need to enforce the new lining up outside the bike lane.”

As soon as the bike injunction is lifted, MTA intends to roll out a great many bike improvements, and Shahamiri was uncertain how soon the Fell Street changes would be enacted. Advocates have reason to lobby MTA once again, this time to place the proposal at the top of the list of enhancements, given the dangers at the ARCO site.

Shahamiri anticipates objections about removing the three parking spaces, but he notes the spaces are technically illegal anyway given their 12 foot length. He also said more ambitious improvements such as a colored bike lane or placement of a bike lane along the curb with parking serving as a buffer against traffic could not be implemented without further study and changes in traffic engineering guidelines.

For comments to MTA and to request urgency in implementing the proposal, contact Shahamiri at James.Shahamiri@sfmta.com .

Thanks to Janel Sterbentz for news tip about MTA plans.