DUI Driver Arrested for Killing Man on Potrero Avenue Near Highway 101

The approximate area on Potrero, approaching the Bayshore onramp, where the man was reportedly killed. Photo: Google Maps

Details updated 5:30 p.m.

A man was killed by an allegedly drunk pickup truck driver early Friday morning at 12:39 a.m. near a vehicle ramp connecting southbound Potrero Avenue to Bayshore Boulevard over Cesar Chavez Street, according to SFPD spokesperson Michael Andraychak.

The driver, 25-year-old Caitlin Rea of San Francisco, was arrested for driving under the influence and felony vehicular manslaughter in the death of the unidentified man, who is estimated to be in his thirties, according to police. The victim was reportedly in the road and not in a crosswalk.

Drivers travel fast at the junction of Cesar Chavez and Highway 101, known as “the Hairball,” and it remains notoriously dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists. It’s not clear from the report where exactly the victim was killed, but the nearest crosswalks on that stretch of Potrero, at Cesar Chavez and 25th Street, are roughly 1,056 feet apart, judging by Google Maps. A fence was installed there by the Department of Public Works in 2009 to discourage pedestrians from crossing, despite the Municipal Transportation Agency neglecting to add a crosswalk and traffic calming measures called for by residents and pedestrian safety advocates.

“This whole area is incredibly unfriendly and unsafe for walking right now, and local workers and residents have been asking for new crosswalks and other improvements,” said Elizabeth Stampe, executive director of Walk SF.

A revamp of Cesar Chavez west of the Hairball, currently under construction, is expected to be finished next summer. The SF Municipal Transportation Agency also striped bike lanes on eastern Cesar Chavez this spring. However, broader bike and pedestrian improvements on the Hairball and eastern Cesar Chavez being developed by the SF Planning Department aren’t expected to be completed for several years.

The latest pedestrian death “shows how necessary it is to fix the streets here and not delay,” said Stampe. “Delay can cost lives.”

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Charges on Hold for DUI Driver Who Killed Man on Bayshore at the Hairball

|
The SF District Attorney’s office has put charges on hold against the driver who killed pedestrian Francisco Huarcha-Salanic, 31, on Bayshore Boulevard on the dangerous junction with Highway 101 known as the “Hairball.” The driver, 25-year-old Caitlin Rea, was arrested for driving under the influence and vehicular manslaughter after hitting and killing Huarcha-Salanic at 12:40 a.m. on September […]

Mission Neighbors Upset Over Proposed Pedestrian Fence

|
A group of skaters stopped on the Potrero Avenue median half-way between 26th and Cesar Chavez Some community members in the Mission are upset that the MTA has proposed building a fence along a median on Potrero Avenue between Cesar Chavez and 25th Street to prevent jaywalking.   Owing to the success of the recently […]

Hairball Study Coughs Up Ideas, Memories

|
Click to enlarge. Bird’s-eye view of the hairball shows how much real estate it takes up and how it creates a daunting barrier between neighborhoods. Photo: mike.teczno.com. “You can’t get there from here” is a joke phrase, but trying to travel through the Highway 101 freeway maze at Cesar Chavez/Potrero/Bayshore is no laughing matter. Four […]

Eyes On The Street: Potrero Median Fence Is Partially Built

|
Photos by Matthew Roth A five-foot tall median fence that some advocates fear will actually make the area more dangerous for pedestrians is now being installed on Potrero Avenue between 25th Street and Cesar Chavez. As my colleague Matthew Roth has reported, DPW and MTA are erecting the fence to to prevent people from making […]