Comments on: Driver Reaction to Market Street Diversions Surprisingly Upbeat

By: jeff

jeff — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 20:03:23 +0000

Are MOTORCYLES allowed on Market?

By: Nick

Nick — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:58:15 +0000

I had to ride it today and didn’t know quite what to expect. Some things i noticed:

It’s much safer for pedestrians to dart to the MUNI islands now to catch a train or bus. There were also office workers casually jay-walking across the street because it felt so safe. (Feels so strange to write that about Market).

The eastbound cyclists had smiles on their faces.

An ambulance moved rapidly from 8th to 4th with sirens on. No traffic delaying their response time.

There were zero cars at 4th and Market when I rode by. No pedestrians getting run over, no honking horns.

Traffic on Mission was light. Seemed almost less than usual.

East of 3rd St there were a few speeding cars taking advantage of the wide open feel. They turned off at 2nd or the next block down.

However going westbound from 1st to 5th was still a nightmare.

By: Sasha

Sasha — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:49:45 +0000

I meant cars turning *right* at 8th…

By: Sasha

Sasha — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:48:56 +0000

@Nick: I rode from Van Ness to Montgomery around 1 today. The existing bike markings still work: at 8th & 6th, the lane melts into sharrows, which place bikes to the left of the right turn lane.
I had a couple challenges today. One was the long line of cars turning left at 8th, which I had to sit behind. (I think it’d be useful to paint a bike box at that intersection and at 6th, to get bikes to the front of the line and out of the way.) The other was jaywaylking. It’s not going to be a sign of a healthy streetscape without a line of sight. There seemed to be more people jaywalking without looking today than I’d ever seen.
There were of course the usual buses, taxis, and delivery trucks parked in the bike lane between Van Ness and 8th (especially in front of that big hotel), and I got stuck behind a bus in each lane for an entire light cycle. Not sure yet if I feel safer as a cyclist with the new changes. But I do like having fewer motor vehicles on Market.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:48:34 +0000

Traffic diversion is a good idea, but a bit like putting a bandaid on a hemmoraghing wound: there is still no room for cyclists to get by buses and cabs at the Muni islands. Today I was warned by a cop to stop at the limit line. Fine, that would put me touching the bumper of the car there.

It’s a great, no cost trial; now let’s spend some money and do it right. Taking away 10 feet of Market’s enormously wide sidewalks would go a long way to reducing congestion and conflicts.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:56:56 +0000

I hear paving will not start until 2013! There will be no street surface left by that time, so it should make their job easier : )

By: Mark Spencer

Mark Spencer — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:55:47 +0000

Let’s get some gardens planted on market street. Be quick, pull the pavement and plant the seeds.

By: Matthew Roth

Matthew Roth — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:33:12 +0000

Pat,
No Market is not closed entirely. Yes, they can get back on if they want, as you suggested, though it would be pretty far out of the way. In the 2004 SFCTA study, they found that most of the cars using Market in the Central Market area are trying to get to freeways, so if you get them off early, traffic will be way down by 6th street. It seems to fit exactly with the results of the trial.

By: pat

pat — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:32:26 +0000

So is market actually closed to cars Eastbound or do they just have to turn at 6th and 8th but are free to get back on at some point later on? Some of the wording in this article seems to imply that cars are still allowed…

By: Jeffrey W. Baker

Jeffrey W. Baker — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 16:27:03 +0000

Jaywalking is a sign of a healthy streetscape. Just look at New Montgomery as an example.

By: Shawn Allen

Shawn Allen — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 06:54:33 +0000

Agreed, Janel. I rode downtown this evening and it was fantastic. A repaving would do wonders for everyone.

By: janel

janel — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:18:14 +0000

Thanks to everyone who helped organize this! It was sooo nice to bike on Market, now we just need to get it repaved.

By: Nick

Nick — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:44:17 +0000

Between Van Ness and 8th, does following the bikelane/sharrow treatments still work or do cyclists have to do anything different?

By: mario

mario — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:38:30 +0000

And yet somehow it’s now nearly impossible for a bike to make a right turn from Market onto the bike lane on 8th. Sigh. The only way to fix that is to right the situation with the island there, and that’ll never happen.

By: zsolt

zsolt — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 23:19:34 +0000

Mario is doing a great job to cement the already wonderful image of bicycle messengers.