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A pedestrian, 33, became the first to die in 2022 in San Francisco when a motorist struck him last week on Geary. As Walk San Francisco stated in its condolences, 27 people were killed in traffic crashes in 2021; 13 of them pedestrians. For years now, those numbers have barely moved, despite the SFMTA's many safety projects.
A clue as to why can be seen a mile away on Polk near City Hall, where Streetsblog stopped to see the latest incarnation of an ongoing safety project this past weekend. It was built in response to the death of Lovisa Svallingson, one of those statistics from last year. In May a driver used the street's previously paint-only, unprotected bike lane to go around a stopped line of cars and run a red light, killing her in the crosswalk.
Another look at the new improvements on Polk and Hayes
In the case of Polk, there was a safety project almost a decade ago that was supposed to put protected and parking-protected bike lanes on both sides of the street, which would have made the driver's maneuver impossible. About the only part of the project that fully survived all the compromises and political pushback is a two-block, contra-flow section right across from where Svallingson was killed. It's protected by concrete, boulders, a steel railing, and a planting strip.
The one, small section of truly protected contra-flow bike lane on Polk when it was new. Good luck to a motorist trying to speed around a line of stopped cars in this. Photo: Stan Parkford.
Note the illegally parked truck blocking this, thanks to the lack of enforcement, even a block from City Hall
That's because instead of concrete and metal, this time they're using more paint and plastic posts.
Streetsblog reached out to SFMTA's Jaime Parks, who oversaw the new design, and asked why. "The timeline to construct concrete islands would have added several months to the project schedule. Second, the experience with the paint and posts-protected corner will help us refine the geometry of any concrete design (e.g., turning radii, lateral off-sets, etc.) so that it works as well as possible. We expect that concrete islands will be installed at Polk/Hayes in 2022."
A heavy concrete planter is one way to make a crossing safer without waiting for new pavement. Seen here in Portland, Oregon
Reacting to deaths one block at a time with more plastic and "geometry refining" trials can't be the answer. SFTMA needs to add whatever chonky concrete objects or water barrels they can find to wherever they currently have plastic posts. And then forget about replacing it with concrete curbs. Move on to the next block. And then the next.
Worry about making it perfect and pretty when the city has three deaths a year, not 30.