And the Fix Goes On: Plate Returns to Haight & Scott Corner of Wiggle

Construction plates finally removed at Haight & Scott on May 4th

But the May 4th work left sunken SFWD covers, a different hazard

Now a different plate is lodged at the intersection, better wedged with asphalt this time

And the plate surface is non-skid as all plates in the city are required to be

Cyclists relieved to no longer have to dodge or bump over the risky, badly positioned construction plates at Haight and Scott streets now find another plate in the exact same position. What's going on here?

As previously reported, cyclists complained to the city and to the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition about the original plates that seemed abandoned at the northeast corner, right along the Wiggle bike route. SFBC urged the city to fix the defect, and the city responded. On May 4th workers for the SF Water Department jackhammered the area, applied new asphalt, and smoothed everything over. Except they left submerged, below-grade SFWD utility covers, a different hazard for cyclists.

The end of last week SFBC pointed out the latest problem to the Department of Public Works. Perhaps with that intervention -- or maybe by coincidence -- the below-grade manhole covers were gone by Monday. Instead, one very large plate covers much of the fix-on-fix area. At least this plate has a skid-resistant covering and is better ramped along the sides with asphalt. Nearby construction signs indicate SFWD will be working at the site from May 19th to 28th. Maybe then this part of the Wiggle will have received its last makeover.

84.7% Increase in Cyclists at Fell and Scott in Three Years; 34,000+ Ride Fell Each Month

NOPA resident Mariana Parreiras tallied bicyclists in the SFMTA 2009 Bike Count Project

Fell Street bike lane approaching ARCO at Divisadero

The route bicyclists use most to reach NOPA and points further west at the end of the workday registered an impressive 84.7% increase in number of riders over the last three years, according to a new San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) report. In the last year alone the count increased by 23.5.% During its annual one-day bike count, MTA interns tallied 375 cyclists passing through the Fell and Scott Streets intersection using the Wiggle bike route, a huge jump from the 202 bikers counted at that location in 2006 and a more than respectable bounce from last year's count of 302.

The bike count occurred between 5 pm and 6:30 pm during August of last year. The analysis compares numbers of cyclists counted at the same location and during the same time period since SFMTA began the counts in 2006. The Fell and Scott intersection is among the top ten busiest sites for bike traffic included in the study that also looked at 33 other locations in San Francisco. Based on the counts at all these sites, bicycling in San Francisco increased by 53% since 2006. The SFMTA explained that the annual bike count helps establish trends in bicycling over time and does not purport to count the total numbers of cyclists on city streets overall.

However, a pilot project on Fell between Scott and Divisadero does register all cyclists at all times. This smaller study found that the total number of cyclists using the Fell Street bike lane ranges from 34,000 to 41,000 a month. Not surprisingly, the better weather months, August through October, see the highest use. The total 24/7 count is obtained from an automatic counter, an “inductive loop counter,” embedded under the roadway a few inches. Each time a bicycle passes over the loop the system adds it to the total count. The loop is capable of distinguishing between bicyclists and other users of the road. And, good news for the cash-strapped city, the counters require little maintenance and operate on batteries that last for ten years. The SFMTA expects to enhance its annual bike counts by installing additional automatic counters throughout the city.

The significant numbers from the manual and the automatic counts emphasize even more the need for safer passage on Fell Street. Recent bike improvements, including the new bike box at Scott & Oak Streets and the center bike lane on Scott between Oak and Fell, have improved the safety for the high number of cyclists using the Wiggle bike route. Yet high speeds by motorists on Fell and the traffic tangle on Fell at the ARCO service station remain hazards to cyclists and pedestrians. As reported in BIKE NOPA here, the SFMTA intends to re-time traffic signals on Fell Street to 25 mph by March, but the agency has been slow to experiment with traffic design changes on Fell near the ARCO station. However, this week SFMTA began forming a working group to develop improvements at this location and provide feedback on any trial changes implemented.

Look What Portland Does with Its Green Bike Box

Part of Portland's marketing campaign for using bike boxes.

photo by ccorlew on flickr

San Francisco wants to become the premiere bicycling city of North America, according to Nathaniel Ford, Executive Director of the city's Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA). But first we have to catch up with Portland, our green city to the north that seems to spin out cutting-edge bike facilities left and right and down the center lane. Take bike boxes, for example.

Earlier this month MTA's Ford joined Mayor Gavin Newsom and three supervisors to tout the city's new green bike box on Scott Street at Oak, as we posted here on December 4th. They even painted it in unison. But there it sits today: it's bright green, it has a purpose, many bicyclists know how to use it, some motorists know to stop behind it when the north-bound traffic signal is red. But something is missing.

Before the press conference and the green paint, there was an asphalt gray bike box at that exact location with a bicyclist icon in it, suggesting its use by, well, bicyclists. (Even that left cyclists and drivers guessing, since no signs were posted with any how-to-use directions). Today there's no bicyclist icon, sharrows, "wait here" message, or anything else.

So take a look at how Portland uses its bike boxes:

photo by itdp on Flickr

photo by Beach650 on Flickr

Better yet, check out this new Streetfilms video. Caution: "bike box envy" may result from one or more viewings of "Bike Box." So, MTA, where's the rest of the bike box?

Take a Last Look at the Scott Street Bike Shuffle

With new bike improvements on the way for Scott Street, the artful dodging of motorists and cyclists approaching Oak and Fell from Scott may finally change for the better. A brief visit to Scott Street during our warm, dry and breezy weather Saturday yielded pretty typical views of some safe and some risky driving ... and biking too. Only the pedestrians seemed to get it right all the time.

In no particular order, here's what transpired during a fifteen minute visit:

• bicyclist eased into the bike box and stopped waiting for the light to change (just as intended)
• motorist decided to "share the box" and the traffic lane, straddling both for right turn on Oak
• truck driver at mid-block on Scott saw the light at Oak change to yellow and floored it just in time to reach the intersection on a full red...and continued through (not shown with pic)
• US Postal Service truck parked in the red zone at the SW corner of Fell and Scott, partly blocking the crosswalk
• motorist travelling south from Hayes on Scott suddenly turned left onto Fell and then gunned it up the hill ... against the traffic
• two bicyclists approached Fell on Scott and veered off to the left onto Fell ignoring the red light
• pedestrians maneuvered around the postal service truck in the crosswalk
• Fell Street traffic was no faster than usual but ...

Will all this change when the Municipal Transportation Agency stripes new bike lanes and a new bike box on Scott? Even harder to say than usual since the particular bike lane configuration has not been announced. Will MTA actually inform motorists -- and bicyclists -- about the bike box? All may be revealed today along with a schedule of implementation: which bike lanes get striped first, where the sharrows will be painted, and what sites get badly needed bike parking first.

NOPA and Alamo Square neighbors might be among the first to enjoy new bike improvements and hopefully better traffic management. Only nine new bike lanes were permitted under the partial relief from the bike injunction (see that story here), and Scott Street is one of the shortest and easiest to implement with few, if any, parking spots to be removed. Another plus: the blocks between Page and Fell were recently repaved. Bring on the stripes and box!

Whenever the changes occur, expect a celebration, either organized or spontaneous. And if that party happens to land on Tuesday, December 1st in the late afternoon and early evening-- the very same day and time as the NOPA BIKE, MEET, & MINGLE -- we're doing BOTH!

Judge Grants Partial Bicycle Injunction Relief

In the future: expect something more like this "bike corral" outside the Main Library or at least the utilitarian inverted U locks where cyclists need them.

Instead of this current option for bike parking found in NOPA and all over the city.

Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch ordered a partial lifting of the three-year old injunction prohibiting bicycle improvements in San Francisco this afternoon. The court order allows the "most easily reversible" projects to be implemented while still holding back the more extensive improvements designed to complete the city's bike network. The limited relief allows the city to implement bike projects for the first time since the injunction was issued in June 2006, a period of 1254 days.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) submitted a list of twelve "most easily reversible" bike enhancements to the court earlier this month. Judge Busch accepted nine of the twelve plus installation of bike racks, painting sharrows (the shared-use chevron-like pavement markings), and other innovative improvements to make bicycling safer in the city.

The nine approved projects include bike lanes on the following streets: Howard, Otis, Scott, Mississippi, Kansas, Clarendon, Clipper, 7th Avenue, and JFK Drive in Golden Gate Park. (The three projects denied by the judge were those intended for Fremont, Kirkham, and the Great Highway).

SFMTA has been anticipating implementation of bike improvements -- while remaining within the limits of the injunction -- and anticipates moving forward with projects as soon as the court permitted them to do so. Bicyclists and livability advocates can expect the first installations within the next week or two, weather permitting.

The most immediate benefit for NOPA bicyclists is the Scott Street Bicycle Lane, Fell street to Oak Street. The project involves the installation of a dedicated, striped bike lane (a Class II bike lane) northbound on Oak between Fell and Oak. Two design options have been under consideration.

According to the SFMTA description of the project, "Option 1 would add a northbound Class II left-turn bicycle lane by removing the left-turn lanes on northbound Scott Street approaching Fell Street and on southbound Scott Street approaching Oak Street." Under Option 1, no parking spaces would be removed.

"Option 2 would add a northbound Class II left-turn lane bicycle lane by narrowing travel lanes and removing approximately three parking spaces from the west side of Scott Street between Fell and Oak Street." SFMTA adds: "the existing left-turn lanes approaching Fell Street and Oak Street would not change under Option 2."

SFMTA staff have presumably decided upon one of the two options, but representatives have yet to announce their choice. (Although a variation of Option 1: removing the left-turn lane and adding two parking spaces is a serious contender). This summer the neighborhood associations for both the North Panhandle (NOPNA) and Alamo Square (ASNA) issued letters of support to bicycle improvements on Scott Street.

San Francisco officials expect a June 1, 2010 start date for a court hearing of the lawsuit that originally resulted in the Bike Plan injunction. Bicyclists and a good many San Franciscans frustrated by the delay in improvements hope the lawsuit will then be dissolved and the injunction lifted.

Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, commented on the court decision in a press release today. "Interest in bike commuting is surging in San Francisco, and it's really heartening to see so many new people on the streets, despite the three-year absence in improvements," Shahum said. "There's definitely an excitement that San Francisco could become one of America's most bicycle-friendly cities once the injunction is fully lifted."

For a full reading of the court order, see the pdf here, posted on sf.streetsblog.org.