Ammiano, Mar, Mirkarimi, Capt. O'Leary Endorse Masonic Boulevard Proposal; Vigil Scheduled for Hit-and-Run Fatality

Remembrance on Masonic, April 2011 Photo: Michael Helquist

The hit-and-run fatality on Masonic near Turk last week shocked San Franciscans, especially those who regularly use the street and, in the most tragic manner, made the case for comprehensive safety improvements along the busy corridor.

Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, District 1 Supervisor Eric Mar, District 5 Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, and SFPD Captain Denis O'Leary of Park Station have endorsed the Boulevard proposal developed by city staff and community members in a series of meetings held last year. As previously reported, the Boulevard plan includes extensive traffic calming measures to reduce the speedway aspect of Masonic and would install facilities for safer walking, bus use, and biking while keeping vehicle traffic to the 25 MPH speed limit.

"I hope that the SFMTA embraces this opportunity to show long-term vision for the transformation of Masonic from a heavily trafficked, dangerous street to an improved, livable corridor." Assemblymember Tom Ammiano (ed: statement released before last week's fatality)

"I definitely support the Boulevard plan for Masonic along with the many area residents and community groups." Supervisor Eric Mar

"This fatality is another reason all forces in City Hall to correct the conditions of Masonic Avenue. These changes are long overdue. The incremental measures taken to increase safety have not been adequate. One major step would be quick adoption and installation of the Boulevard project for Masonic."

Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi

Capt. Denis O'Leary hopes to testify at the public hearing in support of the Boulevard proposal. He has also increased monitoring of traffic speeds and safe pedestrian crossings along Masonic.

Public Hearing on Masonic
Friday, May 13, 2011, at 10:00 am
Room 416 (Hearing Room 4), City Hall
(located on Van Ness Avenue between McAllister and Grove Streets)

Opinions on these proposed changes may be filed in writing prior to the hearing with SFMTA Transportation Engineering, 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5417. Written opinions may also be transmitted by fax to (415) 701-4737 or by

email to sustainable.streets@sfmta.com with subject line “Public Hearing.” Submitted opinions will become part of the official public record and will be brought to the attention of the person(s) conducting the hearing.

**********

Last year's tragic death of Yannick Linke on Masonic near Turk followed by just three days a city-sponsored community meeting focused on making Masonic a safer street for all users. The most recent Masonic fatality -- resulting in the loss of James Hudson last Friday while he was crossing the street -- occurred just one week prior to the City Hall public hearing to review the result of that community planning process. The deaths of both men, and the injuries of many others, impress upon neighborhood residents even more the need for comprehensive, integrated traffic calming on Masonic. Neighbors have organized a memorial for James Hudson for this Wednesday evening. After honoring his life, a street safety discussion will follow for those interested.

Vigil for a Fallen Pedestrian

Wednesday, May 11, 6:15 to 7:15 pm

Meet 6:15; Vigil starts 6:30

Meet on sidewalk at San Francisco Day School (350 Masonic at Golden Gate)

Safety dialogue at 7:15 pm

Gather at Blood Centers of the Pacific, 270 Masonic (at Turk)

For further information: Jarie Bolander, 415-385-22348 jarie.bolander@gmail.com

Repaving Finally Set for MLK Drive in Golden Gate Park

Western section of JFK Drive used to look like this -- how soon we happily forget

Worn-to-concrete-base pothole on MLK Jr. Drive was first tagged a long, long time ago

Part of the "treacherous section" of MLK Jr. Drive in Golden Gate Park

At long last repaving is coming to the south side streets of Golden Gate Park, primarily to Martin Luther King Drive. While a repaved western section of JFK Drive has delighted bicyclists, motorists, and pedestrians since last spring on the north side of the city's premiere park, MLK has posed a dodge-and-swerve guantlet to travelers for years. Body-rattling and sometimes jaw-dropping craters have plagued the long stretch between the Great Highway and Kezar Drive. Even the Recreation and Parks Commission's Capital Committee referred to the "treacherous eastern section of MLK Drive" in a memo last month to General Manager Philip Ginzburg.

The repaving project includes the MLK roadway between Kezar Drive and 19th Avenue, including Bowling Green Drive and Stow Lake Drive. Additional options include segments of MLK Drive west of 19th Avenue to the Great Highway. The $2.5 million resurfacing will rely mostly on Proposition 40 funds along with a half million dollars from the Open Space Fund.

The scope of work will include a process familiar to BIKE NOPA readers who followed the stages of repaving JFK Drive last spring:

• grinding off the top 2 inches of asphalt
• cutting away of damaged areas and more repair as needed
• adding new curb ramps
• installing new paving fabric
• applying 2 inch overlay the full length of the roadway
• road and crosswalk striping

Work is expected to begin this Spring.

SFMTA Releases Masonic Survey Results: Residents Favor Complete Streets Design for a Better Transportation Corridor

Improvements proposed for all Masonic corridor users and residents

Boulevard plan expects to keep vehicles and transit moving smoothly and safely

Bicycle improvements were considered in both design options

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), the Planning Department, and the Department of Public Works released survey results this afternoon that confirm the preference of Masonic area residents for a full package of traffic calming measures along the corridor from Fell to Geary streets. The much-anticipated results indicate that more than three-quarters (76%) of the respondents either strongly liked or somewhat liked the Boulevard street design. More than half (55%) strongly liked it. The survey included another design treatment, the Gateway option, with fewer traffic calming measures. The data show that it was "a less desirable compromise" among the survey respondents with 64% of whom either liked or strongly liked it. Only 19% registered a "strongly liked" position. The survey data will help shape the final report and recommendations that city staff will complete by December 31st.

The Boulevard proposal includes streamlined traffic flow, pedestrian enhancements, Muni improvements, a separated bicycle lane, and a landscaped median. The new design will also remove round-the-clock street parking on Masonic, although SFMTA staff will propose creation of up to 80 new parking spaces nearby as a mitigation. In the survey, respondents favored the individual elements of the Boulevard design:

• transit facilities (53% strongly liked the features and 31% liked them)
• travel lane configuration including a median (47% strongly liked, 35% liked)
• lighting fixtures for roadway and pedestrian areas (66% strongly liked, 24% liked)
• raised bicycle track (54% strongly liked, 20% liked)
• parking removal (42% strongly liked, 17% liked)
• street trees (64% strongly liked, 21% liked)

In all the above categories, survey respondents favored the Boulevard treatments over the Gateway features. Written comments indicated the preferences were largely due to the extra enhancements in the Boulevard option. For example, a landscaped median the length of the Masonic blocks seemed to tip preferences for the travel lane configuration over the Gateway plan with intermittent medians.

The cycle track for bicyclists in the Boulevard design was much more popular than the striped bike lane proposed under the Gateway option. In the latter, only 15% strongly liked the lesser lane treatment with another 40% indicating they liked it. Not surprisingly, the removal of parking proved to be the issue that divided respondents the most. But, according to the report, "a stronger and larger majority (are) in favor of removing all parking." Even so, many respondents expressed strong reservations. The Gateway proposal contained removal of parking on just one side of the street, but 17% strongly disliked the idea and another 29% disliked it. The greater number of street trees proposed in the two plans (200 for the Boulevard, 125 for the Gateway) easily swayed the strongly liked response for the Boulevard.

Javad Mirabdal, project manager for the Masonic study, explained the process that led to the results released today.

This is basically what the community told us. We worked with the community during three community meetings and narrowed the options to these last two, the Boulevard and the Gateway. The majority are in favor of the Boulevard option, and we will include the data in our final report and recommendations.

Mirabdal added that the next step will be to legislate the proposal with public support. "Then we have a project," he said. With the approval in hand, city staff will complete the design, seek environmental review if needed, and begin the challenging task of securing funding.

For related stories, see the A Better Masonic series.

A Better Masonic: SFPD Targets Speeding Motorists on Masonic Beginning Today

SFPD will step-up enforcement of the 25 mph speed limit on the Masonic corridor beginning today. Captain Teresa Barrett told BIKE NOPA that Park Station officers will ticket speeding drivers during morning and evening commutes and the off-peak hours when motorists tend to exceed the speed limit more frequently. "We'll stagger the monitoring," Barrett said, "between different times of day and night from Fell to Turk especially."

SFPD's increased surveillance comes in the context of the recent hit-and-run fatality on Masonic and the city's plans for traffic calming on the corridor. Barrett referred to the tragic collision August 13th on Masonic at Turk that left 22-year-old Yannick Linke dead after a driver struck and killed him while he was bicycling. "It was a terrible incident," she said. Barrett added that she has viewed several collisions on Masonic herself. When she first took command of Park Station two years ago, Barrett wrote a letter to city officials directing their attention to the traffic hazards on Masonic.

When asked about the role of enforcement in reducing speeding, Barrett described it as just one part of the solution for safer streets. She also believes that radar trailers -- roadside digital displays that alert drivers to the speed they're travelling -- can be effective tools to educate motorists who exceed the speed limit. The grassroots group Fix Masonic, the North Panhandle Neighborhood Association, the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, and Masonic residents have increased calls for measures to reduce speeding on the street since Yannick Linke's death three weeks earlier.

Barrett countered often-heard suggestions that enforcement alone is all that is needed to make Masonic safer. "We have so many other thoroughfares in this district that need watching," she said, "that we could never provide constant surveillance of Masonic." Traffic engineers refer to the "three E's" for traffic calming: Enforcement, Education, and Engineering. With its increased monitoring of speeding and willingness to employ speed displays, Park Station is doing its part to cover two of the three. (With the city's fiscal crisis, however, SFPD will need public support to maintain its focus on Masonic traffic safety and not be diverted too frequently to other problem areas).

The community planning and design process recently undertaken by the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) and other city departments* reflects an intent to implement the final E, for Engineering, on Masonic. Neighbors have attended two meetings to date to help determine traffic calming measures that will reduce speeding and increase safety for all road users. A third and final meeting is scheduled for September 30th to select a package of changes to the corridor that may include removal of the tow-away zone during commute hours and using that "extra lane" to install a separated bike lane, a landscaped median, bus bulb-outs at intersections, parking removal, and other options. The intent of such a safety makeover is to transform the street so it functions less like a neighborhood freeway and more like a neighborhood thoroughfare that keeps traffic moving smoothly without endangering lives in the process.

* The Department of Public Works and the Planning Department are collaborating with the SFMTA on the Masonic project. During the last few years, the MTA implemented several safety improvements to the Masonic corridor including lowering the speed limit from 30 to 25 mph, adding yellow-laddered crosswalks at school crossings, changing signal timing at a few intersections, and removing a double turn lane at Oak Street, and installing a bicyclist and pedestrian signal light at Fell Street.

Masonic Avenue Traffic Calming Project

Meeting #3

Thursday, September 30th

6:30 to 8:30 pm

San Francisco Day School

350 Masonic at Golden Gate Avenue

(enter on Golden Gate side of building)

For more information: javad.mirabdal@sfmta.com
(415) 702-4421

For previous articles in the A Better Masonic series, check here.

No One Likes This

The Fell Street entry to the ARCO station at Divis is a hazard for everyone: pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists. To queue in line and get out of the traffic lane, motorists straddle the sidewalk or the bike lane. With more than 2 or 3 vehicles waiting, a full traffic lane on Fell is obstructed with drivers either stuck or dodging into the right lanes as vehicles rush the light at Divis. No one is particularly safe but the more vulnerable -- pedestrians and cyclists -- get stuck with the greater risks. (For cyclists to move into the traffic lanes to the right is seldom safe given the speed of motorists).

Sunday morning a few independent-minded cyclists* tried to get the message to motorists by adding stencils in the bike lane, with a bit of whimsy. The unapproved "Keep Clear" warnings are accompanied by a modified cyclist icon sprouting antlers. The city expects to paint their own messages (the same words and icon minus the antlers) sometime soon. That's sure to work! See the photos taken this afternoon: situation the same as any other day.

To alleviate a similar situation on Masonic -- the backed-up vehicle access to Trader Joe's -- the city finally changed the parking lane into a holding lane for vehicles. Parking spots were given over to a safer street. And, yes, another solution is to rely less on cars, especially for the short trips around town.

Update: As of July 23, the "KEEP CLEAR" stencils have been painted over by the MTA (but the cyclist with antlers remains). The city has indicated an intent to stripe official similar messages...at some point.