Fell/ARCO Traffic Tangle Closer to Trial Solutions

SFMTA proposal to improve safety for users of Fell St at ARCO station

One enhancement suggested by Marc Caswell of SFBC

The Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) will implement traffic flow changes for bicyclists and motorists approaching Divisadero on Fell Street. The MTA hopes the trial improvements will resolve a raft of safety problems for street and sidewalk users at the Fell Street entry to the ARCO gas station at the corner of Divisadero. The proposed designs are expected to be implemented “fairly quickly.”

James Shahamiri, MTA Assistant Engineer for the Bike Program, told BIKE NOPA that he thinks a gradual approach will work best for the changes. “We’re trying to take experimental steps now and see how they work. Maybe we’ll enhance them later.” He emphasized that design changes have yet to be finalized but he expects plans to be approved “fairly quickly,” perhaps within the next two days. “But we’re not going to be making changes on the street tomorrow,” he cautioned. When pressed further about whether MTA will proceed before the bike injunction is fully lifted (which is not expected before June of this year), Shahamiri said, “We can definitely do this before June.”

The improvements will likely include “several small steps”
• Installation of four “soft-hit” posts along both sides of the bike lane near ARCO
• Transitioning the bike lane inward as it approaches ARCO (see diagram)
• Applying painted “hatching” on the street surfaces to guide traffic flow
• Posting “Keep Clear” signs to advise motorists
The MTA proposal will not remove parking spaces, change lane widths, or prevent access to driveways.

“The idea is that the posts would force any queuing vehicles in the bicycle lane to go back out into the travel lane to turn into the gas station,” Shahamiri wrote Tuesday to a “study group” of NOPA and Alamo Square neighbors and livability advocates. “This should make queuing in the bicycle lane pointless.

Members of the review group responded more positively to the latest MTA proposal than to a previous plan presented last September and reported in a BIKE NOPA post. Michael Smithwick, Transportation Chair for the Alamo Square Neighborhood Association (ASNA), wrote, “It is a sound plan” that keeps cars out of the bike lane up to the ARCO entry but does not keep them from blocking the bike lane at that point or keeping motorists off the sidewalk. He and Marc Caswell, Program Manager for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, proposed adding prominent signage and painting more hatching of the bike lane and sidewalk at the ARCO entry.

Caswell expressed concern that the MTA plan, while a good start, “dumps the bicyclist off” into the large space along the ARCO lot and should instead guide riders to Divisadero and through the intersection, preferably with a bike lane painted green. Janel Sterbentz of ASNA also encouraged a green-painted lane for safer passage at both the Scott and Divisadero intersections.

In a conversation this morning, Shahamiri said he was ready to incorporate some, but not all, of the proposed changes. “We can do the signage and the crosshatching on the streets, but I’m not sure if we can do the hatching on a sidewalk." Shahamiri advised that the MTA was not ready to paint the bike lane green. The agency is studying whether the Fell/ARCO traffic location fits the criteria for previous approval MTA received to experiment with green lanes at other “conflict areas” in the city.

Shahamiri and study group members all agreed that enforcement would be required for the proposed changes to work. “I’d like to see SFPD out there citing drivers,” he said. The MTA proposal will continue to be reviewed in the days ahead. Shahamiri emphasized, "Our intention is to work with the community in an ongoing process.”

4pm update: More on the MTA proposal with additional comments on Streetsblog this afternoon.