"Bulb-outs", or curb extensions, like this one at 7th Avenue and Irving Street could be installed more easily under a new proposal. Image: Google Maps

The proposal, sponsored by Supervisor Scott Weiner and Mayor Ed Lee, was moved forward by the SF Board of Supervisors Land Use and Economic Development Committee today. It would streamline the bureaucratic process for building sidewalk extensions (a.k.a. “bulb-outs”) — a street design tool often used by planners to calm motor traffic, improve pedestrian visibility and comfort, and ease transit boardings at stops — by eliminating an outdated requirement for changes to sidewalk widths less than one block long to be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

“This will be a significant improvement in our process in terms of making our city more pedestrian-friendly and safer for pedestrians, improving the vibrancy of our commercial districts, and creating more public space that is not for cars, but rather for people,” said Wiener.

“Upon adoption of the Better Streets Plan, we’ve seen more and more projects come through for minor sidewalk changes such as corner bulb-outs for individual projects that don’t exceed one linear block,” said Nick Elsner of the SF Department of Public Works (DPW), the primary agency responsible for implementing sidewalk extensions. ”This would greatly expedite and make the process much more efficient.”

According to legislative documents [PDF], the proposal would amend an ordinance passed in 1910 requiring project approval from supervisors, which “result[s] in a very lengthy process and often lead[s] to project delays.” It would also establish a speedier approval process for the SF Planning Department, but projects would still need to be approved by other affected agencies like the SFMTA. The change would save the DPW an estimated $2,500 in processing costs for a block of construction, said spokesperson Gloria Chan, and the SF Planning Department would save about $1,375 in reviews.

Bulb-outs, the documents note, are an important tool in pursuing the city’s goals of improving the pedestrian environment. Stephen Shotland of the Planning Department said the proposal is intended “to be able to move projects forward that really are consistent with the General Plan and consistent with the adopted Better Streets Plan,” which, along with several neighborhood plans cited in the documents, call for improvements like widening congested sidewalks, minimizing crossing distances, and discouraging high-speed car traffic on local streets. “Staff would be able to review projects to make sure that, in fact, is the case,” said Shotland.

The proposal passed the committee today without objection and is expected to go before the full board in the coming weeks.

Widening the median on Divisadero Street. Photo: Janel Sterbentz

Many residents from the neighborhoods Divisadero connects are relieved to see any pedestrian improvements, given the long neglected state of the street.

"I think that street has been so beleaguered and so worn down for so many years, people are going to be happy just to get any improvement," said BIKE NOPA's Michael Helquist. Leela Gill, former president of the North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association, called the project "a welcome improvement."

Wider sidewalks were high on the list of requests at community feedback meetings, but DPW ruled them out during the planning process, said Walk SF's Manish Champsee. "It comes down to a cost issue," said Champsee.

Whenever the city widens sidewalks, it must also move fire hydrants within two feet of the new curb; utilities and sewers also must be moved. Champsee would like the city to find a way to simplify the process, which might mean simply leaving everything in place when the sidewalks are widened and moving it all later when when individual components are scheduled for regular maintenance.

Coordinating scheduled work between DPW and the Public Utilities Commission is not always easy, said Livable City's Tom Radulovich, because the PUC does not publish a road map of scheduled maintenance like DPW does. The result is that DPW often prefers median widening to sidewalk widening when there's excess roadway space and funds available to make upgrades, since median widening is much simpler and cheaper.

Before installation of a pedestrian refuge island. Photo: Janel Sterbentz

On another block of Divisadero, after installation of a pedestrian refuge island. Photo: Janel Sterbentz

Neighbors, desperate for any pedestrian and aesthetic improvements, were willing to compromise. That might preclude an eventual road diet, said Radulovich, who would have preferred to "do fewer blocks but do them right," like the four-block Valencia Streetscape Improvement Project. Since expensive new lights are being added to the widened Divisadero median, the city might be hesitant to tear part of the median out later, a near-necessity if Divisadero were ever to receive a road diet. To do that, said Radulovich, the city would need to remove a travel lane in each direction and install a left-turn-only lane at intersections, cutting into the expensive new median.

Divisadero's nine-foot-nine-inch sidewalks don't comply with the draft Better Streets Plan guidance on commercial thoroughfares like Divisadero, and until that plan is completed and implemented, it's a shortcoming that could be repeated often. In the case of Divisadero, it means that while there's no shortage of draws bringing foot traffic to the street these days, an end to its 90-year legacy of skinny sidewalks is still a long way off.

Mona Caron's interpretation of a 21st Century Market Street

In an interview, Wade Crowfoot, the Mayor's Director of Climate Initiatives, insisted "coordination and leadership will come from our office, but we need to take it out of the politics of city hall and engage the key stakeholders.  The time is ripe for a broader conversation."

"There was no plan that I know of a year ago," said Ed Reiskin, Director of the Department of Public Works (DPW).  He explained he first had a conversation about a big vision for Market Street improvements with SFBC Executive Director Leah Shahum when they discussed the regularly scheduled repaving of Market Street.  "If we're going to invest all this money and create all this disruption, we have a great opportunity.  We can rip up the street and pave it exactly as it is, or we can come up with something much better."

Reiskin said the DPW had budgeted a small amount of planning and design money this year, and put out a call to all the agencies that have infrastructure along the street.  He has also been working with the Planning Department to develop a procedural document that will focus on how the agencies should coordinate their efforts.

"I'm trying to be the instigator of this process," said Reiskin.  "Ultimately, DPW will lead the implementation of the capital project, wherever that will be.  We're looking for guidance from the Planning Department and the others we meet with monthly to get it right." 

Independently of DPW's work, the Board of Supervisors several weeks ago directed the SFCTA to complete a Strategic Analysis Report (SAR) to study automobile restrictions on Market Street.  Though the impression one received from reading the newspaper was that we would soon see a car-free Market Street, the SAR is only an advisory document needed before a study can be completed. 

When pressed, Tilly Chang, the TA's Deputy Director for Planning, admitted that a real study of Market Street would take six months or more after the SAR is completed, and that even then there would need to be a commitment from the MTA and other agencies to adopt the study's recommendations (SAR Scope, PDF).

MTA spokesperson Judson True said that the Market Street process posed an "incredible opportunity to make what is already a key street for sustainable transportation even better.  The TEP sees Market Street as the future of Muni, with improved boarding, better transit priority, etc.  We’re also committed to working with all the partner agencies to make sure it is one of the most visually impressive urban streets in the U.S."

The TEP is still a couple years out, particularly projects that are not revenue neutral, so expecting MTA to move quickly could prove difficult. 

Andy Thornley, the SFBC's Program Director, said he believes the main obstacle to improving Market Street is the MTA.  Even without the MTA purposefully slowing down improvements, circumstantially, they are acting as an impediment to progress.  "At this moment, MTA is not acting on their main charge of providing safe, convenient trips for everybody and wonderful streetscapes."

Given that the timeline for repaving the street realistically looks like 2013-14, San Francisco won't see any changes while the current Mayor is in office, unless he gives the agencies political capital to implement trials analogous to those completed by NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.

"We’re having a lot of discussion on what kind of quick hits can be implemented," said MTA Spokesman True. "We have to find ways to provide for local access, even as we try to make sure that Market Street is not a through street for vehicle traffic.

The DPW's Reiskin also expressed support for short-term improvements.

Once we have a design concept, I would love to do any kind of pilots and short-term projects that we can.  Frankly it's not something that I've discussed with other agencies, but once we're emboldened with Janette Sadik-Khan-style projects elsewhere, we can identify things that we can test in a real way on Market.  I guess if you can do Broadway in New York, you can do almost anything.

Though the SFBC's Thornley said the TA’s SAR has been greeted with some cynicism, he's optimistic that it is meant to be an organizing framework and "punchlist" to make the agencies come together and be held accountable.  But he's not convinced it will work without the Mayor gathering everyone together:

Without engagement from the Mayor, it won’t matter if we have an organizing document and an action plan. If there is a leadership vacuum, we’ll continue to drift along with a Market Street that functions very poorly for transit—perhaps the biggest bottleneck for Muni citywide; it will continue to be a very poor route for cyclists, even though it may be the most important bicycle network west of the Mississippi; and we’ll see a business and economic climate that is dark and depressed--we'll continue to have a Market street that repels tourists.

You have a Mayor who’s trying to convince the rest of the state that he wants to be governor—it seems important to show that you can straighten out one street before you go on to govern the state.

Mona Caron mural photo: Michael Rauner Photography

A 14' median with trees will be added to Cesar Chavez when the bicycle injunction is lifted

Part time bike lane?

Now that the injunction appears to be just months from being lifted, CC Puede is optimistic the project will be a triumph of organizing that transforms a traffic wall between two neighborhoods into a boulevard linking Bernal Heights with the Mission.  The proposed bike lanes on both sides of the street will add connectivity to important segments of the Bicycle Plan, such as the widely used Valencia Street lane.  The new lanes will be full time, too, unlike the measly offering currently on Cesar Chavez.

Though CC Puede's Fran Taylor lamented the delay, she found optimism in the process, arguing "it could be good that it's taken three years because people have had time to get use to the project." She noted that PVN was initially concerned that limiting throughput on Cesar Chavez would drive traffic to Precita Avenue.  She  said that there was substantial debate over what would happen with day laborers who often stand on Cesar Chavez waiting for work, though by bringing Day Labor Program organizers to the table, many of the concerns were addressed.

The redesign project was initially championed by Supervisors Dufty, Maxwell, and Ammiano (now Campos) and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the MTA, the Planning Department, and the Department of Public Works (DPW) worked with CC Puede and the community to refine the plan and give it the city's blessing.  The PUC has delayed the reconstruction of a sewer main beneath the street with the expectation that the bicycle injunction will be lifted soon and the problem won't become too urgent, though project partners admit that timeliness is essential and the PUC won't be happy with further delays.

Planning's City Design Group spearheaded fundraising for the project that is expected to cost $6 million, of which $3 million will come from federal TEA-21 funds, $1.5 million from the PUC, $700,000 from a state grant to Planning and a $400,00 concession from the developer of a new building at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Mission Streets.

Andres Power of Planning described features of the new vision at a recent meeting at PVN:

• Three lanes of traffic will be reduced to two in each direction
• A bike lane will be added in each direction
• A fourteen foot median will be planted in the middle
• Every corner will get pedestrian treatments, including bulbouts, better crosswalks and storm-water catchment planters
• The end of Capp Street at Mission will become a plaza and crossing distances will be reduced
  

Once the injunction is lifted the plan will begin construction immediately.  Power expects the project to be completed within one year, which could be by the summer of 2010.

Photos: Planning Department