Safer Path Could Help Untangle the “Alemany Maze” Highway Interchange

The “Alemany Maze,” the deadly Highway 101 and 280 interchange in the southeast city, could get a safer crossing for walking and biking. Funding to study a walking path and bike lanes through the junction was approved this week by the SF County Transportation Authority Board of Directors, comprised of the Board of Supervisors.

The study, set to be completed by next June, will look at creating a “multi-modal pathway” where residents already cross the “nasty mess of ramps” to reach the Alemany Farmers Market, SFCTA planner Colin Dentel-Post told an SFCTA board committee this week.

“People currently use an informal pathway and dangerous, unsignalized crossings through the interchange,” he said. The maze “creates a barrier between the surrounding neighborhoods, including the Bernal, Portola, Bayview, and Silver Terrace neighborhoods.”

The $100,000 approved for the study was requested by D9 Supervisor David Campos. Campos was apparently swayed by the Portola Neighborhood Association to push for a safer crossing, according to a recent post by Chris Waddling at D10 Watch.

Waddling, chair of the SFCTA Citizens Advisory Committee representing District 10, lauded the advancement of the project:

The inability to walk directly and safely from the Portola to the Alemany Farmers Market has been a vexing problem since the freeway was built in the “car is king” era. Today, as evidenced by the hundreds of pedestrian trips across the median and Alemany itself during breaks in traffic, it’s obvious that people want a pedestrian alternative to driving to the market.

The study will also look at extending the bike lanes on Alemany Boulevard through the interchange to connect to the buffered bike lanes on Bayshore Boulevard installed last year.