SFMTA Board Approves Watered-Down Polk Plan, May Revisit It Later

The SFMTA Board of Directors voted today to approve the plan to redesign Polk Street with a protected bike lane along one side of the street for 10 of 20 blocks. After a four-hour hearing, the board approved the plan with the condition that SFMTA staff would report on the impacts of the project a year after it's completed, when they will consider extending protected bike lanes along the upper half of the corridor.

"Of course, we wanted the full suite of Vision Zero improvements along the length of Polk," said SF Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Noah Budnick. "But the improvements that were approved today are the foundation to build on and as we work through the massive construction on Polk, and the safety improvements are implemented, the MTA's data-driven approach, I predict, is going to show that safety improves, traffic is reduced, businesses thrive, and will back up the case for extending pedestrian and bicycle safety improvements for the entire length of the street."

We'll have more coverage of the hearing tomorrow.