Rescue Muni

From Supervisor Scott Wiener’s Facebook page: “This Thursday, come learn about the track replacement and streetscaping project for the Duboce/Church area. This project will greatly improve the transit stops and sidewalks in the area and will enhance pedestrian safety. It covers Duboce Street from Noe to Church and Church Street from Duboce to Market. The meeting is 6-7:30 p.m. at Davies Medical Center, Gazebo Room.”

Please attend this meeting and learn more about this important project – and urge SFMTA to include traffic signals with pre-empts to speed LRVs through this very slow area!

After years of community involvement, the SFMTA is about to review proposed changes to the street design for Masonic Avenue. This would create a boulevard-style street with zero parking, raised cycle tracks, and bus bulb-outs at major intersections, and also would reduce the current six and seven lanes of traffic to four from Geary all the way to Fell. (See pdf, beginning at page 41.)

This design looks beautiful in the slides, but as with the equally “beautiful” Octavia Boulevard, there are some major concerns. In particular, the reduction in street capacity is almost certain to cause congestion during peak hours, as is the case now with Octavia and Divisadero. Will this mean big delays for the 43-Masonic, which uses this corridor? The proposal does not include any discussion of the likely impact to traffic or transit speed, particularly at peak hours when ridership is highest and during the hours that left turns are allowed.

If you have thoughts about the proposal, please attend the hearing at City Hall, Room 416, on Friday, May 13, at 10 am. Unfortunately the SFMTA has again chosen to hold the meeting during regular business hours, when many commuters cannot attend – so you can also submit your comments to the project manager or the Board secretary.

Apparently “transit first” doesn’t actually include better transit infrastructure, at least when Hayes Valley is concerned. The SFMTA just approved changes to Hayes Street, (pdf) making it a two way street between Gough and Van Ness – but despite the heavy commute hour traffic, did not include any changes to the 21-Hayes routing nor any bus lanes. (SF Gate, SF Streetsblog.)

One minor change was included, to add a left turn arrow at Hayes and Gough – but this does nothing to get the buses out of the heavy traffic that occurs every evening from Market all the way to Gough, and that will only get worse with the removal of a traffic lane.

Rescue Muni has long supported a two way Hayes – but with a two way bus operation (requiring new overhead wires) to eliminate the wasteful inbound detour from Laguna to Polk, and also with an outbound rush hour bus lane. It’s disappointing that this option was not considered here. (To be fair, it was also excluded from the final Transit Effectiveness Project report, which doesn’t recommend any changes to the “local” 21 line.)

Riders wishing to avoid delays in the evening commute should take the 5-Fulton or 71-Haight/Noriega Limited and walk to Hayes.

The Planning Commission is considering redevelopment proposals for Treasure Island, the former naval base located in the middle of the bay, this Thursday. One key requirement for any redevelopment is much better public transit – not just the current 108 bus to downtown, but ferry service to downtown, bus service to Oakland, and better transit within the island. This could be paid for by extending the bridge toll to island drivers, eitehr in the morning rush (as proposed) or all day.

If you support better transit for Treasure Island and downtown SF, write the commission before Thursday to have your comments considered.

Tomorrow, the MTA Board will consider renaming the Geneva Yard in honor of Cameron Beach, who died suddenly last month after serving for four years on the MTA Board. Beach was a strong advocate for historic streetcar service and a very effective director and is much missed – this would be a great honor, and we encourage a YES vote!