Streetsblog San Francisco

Fell Street today. Photo: Aaron Bialick

The basic striping for a separated bike lane on Fell Street now links the Wiggle to the Panhandle, a milestone in the years-long campaign to make one of San Francisco’s most important bicycle routes more appealing to all. Crews from the SF Municipal Transportation Agency yesterday striped the 5-foot buffer separating the bike lane from motor traffic, the most significant sign of progress yet on this long-awaited street safety project.

“We are extremely excited to see the Fell Street separated bikeway underway,” said SF Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Leah Shahum. ”This is a safety improvement project that is so crucial to the huge number of people who bike and walk along this corridor every day. The paint and buffer is a great step toward making this intimidating corridor safer, and we’re looking forward to the addition of the other pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements that are planned. We continue to applaud the SFMTA for taking biking, walking, and neighborhood safety seriously on Fell and Oak Streets.”

The SFMTA plans to add bicycle stencils, intersection treatments, green paint in some areas, and eventually concrete barriers to complete the bike lane. The rest of the project’s bicycle and pedestrian improvements will be added in the coming months, including a similar bike lane on the three parallel blocks of Oak Street, more visible crosswalks, and sidewalk extensions at 12 street corners. The sychronized traffic signal speed will also be lowered from 25 MPH to 20 MPH to calm car traffic, and dedicated bicycle signals will give bicyclists and pedestrians a head start to cross in front of turning vehicles.

Many bike commuters using the Fell lane so far have been seen riding close to, or even inside, the buffer zone. That may be due to the poor riding surface along the curb, which has for decades served as storage for cars, leaving the concrete bumpy in some areas. Or maybe it’s just habit for those who grew accustomed to braving the old bike lane, which has now become the buffer zone.

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Fell at Scott Streets, where the outgoing bike lane has been partially ground off, and "No Stopping" signs have been posted along the curb all the way to Baker Street. Photos: Aaron Bialick

Note: I returned last night from an East Coast vacation and Streetsblog meet-up, and was fortunate enough to avoid the worst of Hurricane Sandy. Best wishes to all of those who are recovering from the storm and the devastation left in its wake. Check out the coverage from my office-exiled colleagues in NYC about how New Yorkers are handling the transportation crisis.

On a more positive note, I was so excited to come home to the following news that I chose to get back on the beat a day early to report it. Thanks again to Robert Prinz, Bryan Goebel, and my editor-in-chief Ben Fried for keeping the blog up and running in my absence.

The first signs of change on Fell Street to make way for a physically separated bike lane have appeared between Baker and Scott Streets. Crews from the SF Municipal Transporation Agency began the work yesterday, grinding off street markings and installing “No Stopping” signs so they can remove all of the parking spaces along the three blocks.

Although a few parked vehicles remain on the curb, along with the regular queue of drivers at the Arco gas station (which the new bike lane won’t remove), the absence of curbside parking gave bike commuters and tourists a taste of what it’s like to have more breathing room on the crucial westbound link from the Wiggle to the Panhandle.

Tanya Milosevich, who bike commutes from the Mission to her job at Arizmendi Bakery in the Inner Sunset, was unaware of the plan to improve the bike lane, but called it “amazing” when told about it. “It’s always a little dicey there,” she said.

As we’ve reported, striping for the protected bike lanes on both Fell and Oak Streets is expected to be complete by this winter, with concrete barriers and sidewalk bulb-outs to be built by next summer. We’re waiting for word from the SFMTA on when the striping on the Fell lane should be finished.

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With a growing number of new bike commuters on the Wiggle — and more on the way with the imminent arrival of separated bike lanes on Fell and Oak Streets — the route is a kind of petri dish for a maturing culture of respect between people walking, bicycling, and driving.

In a new video, a group called Neighbors Developing Divisadero surveyed some regular Wiggle users at last month’s Sunday Streets in NoPa about what they see as the etiquette for each mode of travel.

While the Wiggle is actually very safe, with relatively calm traffic and very few crashes, negotiating intersections can get hairy when people are in a rush. The SFMTA has been adding green-backed sharrows, continental crosswalks, and daylighting treatments this year in a bid to improve visibility and navigation along the route. And reducing through car traffic would no doubt provide more breathing room for pedestrians and bicyclists as well. But sometimes, it seems, people simply just need to be more considerate.

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The plan for protected bike lanes on Fell and Oak Streets could be completed by the end of this year — at least partially.

Image: SFMTA

The project is scheduled to go up for final approval by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors on October 16, and if it passes, all but the concrete work — which includes sidewalk bulb-outs and planted concrete barriers — could be completed before January, according to agency spokesperson Paul Rose.

That may not necessarily mean the route will be rideable, however. “It remains to be determined whether or not [the bike lanes] can be used while the work on the concrete barrier is being done,” said Rose. The concrete work may not be finished until next summer.

Bike advocates and city officials, including D5 Supervisor Christina Olague, have urged the SFMTA to expedite the project, which would bring pedestrian safety upgrades and protected bike lanes to the three blocks of one-way Fell and Oak Streets, between Baker and Scott Streets, which serve as the flattest, most direct connection between the Panhandle and the Wiggle. A public hearing in May saw an overwhelmingly supportive turnout for the project.

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Photos: Aaron Bialick

New green-backed sharrows, Muni shelters, planters, art murals and more were installed in recent weeks as part of the ongoing improvements to the bike and transit hub at Duboce Avenue and Church Street.

However, those waiting for the colored transit lanes on Church may be disappointed to hear they’ll have to wait another month. Although construction was originally set for September, Municipal Transportation Agency spokesperson Paul Rose said the lanes will now go in by the end of October. We’re waiting to hear back on the cause for the delay.

Meanwhile, other improvements continue sprouting up at Duboce and Church as part of the track replacement project, which is expected to be finished next spring. The intersection serves as the entrance to the heavily-used Wiggle bike route and a transit junction for Muni’s J-Church, N-Judah, and 22-Fillmore lines.

Following the addition of a green “bike channel” and wider boarding islands in June, Duboce now has green-backed sharrows connecting to the rest of the ones installed along the Wiggle this year, while the N and J stops have new shelters. SFMTA staff has said it also plans to add green-backed sharrows guiding riders across the tracks where they exit the two-way Duboce bikeway.

Mona Caron's new mural depicting the Sans Souci Creek.

Artist Mona Caron, who created the mural along the bikeway along the back of the Safeway building, added new touches to the Muni utility boxes on the sidewalk. On one side of the boxes, bicyclists entering the Wiggle are greeted by an illustrated flowing banner that lists the names of the streets that make up the route. On the other side, pedestrians are treated with a window to a re-imagined intersection featuring an uncovered Sans Souci Creek (which once roughly followed the path of the Wiggle), an agricultural plot, and an open community area replacing the Safeway and its parking lot.

At the N-Judah stop at Duboce and Noe Street (Duboce Park), crews were out today filling in the new planters, one of the finishing touches at the station. The ongoing work has brought wider sidewalks, ladder-striped crosswalks, and bike racks, and more along Duboce.

Check out more photos after the break.

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Photos: Aaron Bialick

Muni riders, bike commuters and pedestrians passing through the re-opened Duboce and Church junction this morning were welcomed with wider boarding islands, fresh pavement, and a newly-painted, lime-green “bike channel.”

The bike channel, which runs between the sidewalk and the widened boarding island on the north side of Duboce, is coated with the same bright shade of green seen on the sharrows the SFMTA is rolling out on the rest of the Wiggle. The color, which was added using a grant from the Bikes Belong Foundation, should help clarify the right of way for bicycling and not to walk in the bike lane. The channel will be marked with bicycle stencils, and markings will also be painted to guide bicyclists over the rail tracks.

Car access onto westbound Duboce from Church is now closed. Few motorists will be affected: Left turns from northbound Church were already banned, and southbound Church begins just one block to the north.

Boarding islands were also widened on the south side of Duboce and east side of Church. The rebuilt islands, which appear to be raised higher than the old ones, received a new brick-lined treatment, as have curbs extended along Duboce. New railings are also being installed on some islands.

The junction feels a bit quieter with new tracks and smooth pavement carrying trains, cars and bikes. The center transit lanes appear to be set off more distinctly by new concrete surfacing, which also makes for smoother track crossings for bikes and strollers. The surface treatments, along with some new raised pavement bumps, should help deter drivers from using the transit lanes. New train signals also help operators take turns negotiating the busy intersection.

Crews were hard at work making the improvements during last week’s nine-day shutdown of the N-Judah and disruption of the J-Church lines. They’re part of the ongoing Church and Duboce Track and Street Improvement Project, expected to be completed in roughly a year. They also come as green-backed sharrows, ladder crosswalks, and daylighting are being implemented along the Wiggle.

More photos after the break.

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