Victory on Page Street
Good busy, Page Street. Photo: Charles Whitfield
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The SFMTA Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to add Page Street to its list of Slow Streets. From a release from District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, whose district encompasses nearly the entire street:
Preston took office in December 2019 and immediately advocated for the SFMTA Page Street Bikeway Improvements pilot in February 2020, which included restrictions on freeway-bound traffic and bikeway upgrades between Webster Street and Octavia Boulevard and the temporary measures to limit non-local traffic westward to Stanyan Street as part of the COVID-19 emergency Slow Streets Program. When the pandemic hit, Preston worked with MTA to make Page a slow street.
Along the way, the project has gained support but has also run into delays. In 2021, Preston’s office led a walk-through with community members, advocates, school and faith based leaders to provide in-depth feedback on the future of Page Slow Street, and when the project was delayed, worked with advocates and community members to get the Page Slow Street back on track.
"This is a long time coming,” added Preston in his prepared statement. "I’m proud to have worked with SFMTA, neighbors, and advocates to get this Page Street project across the finish line as a permanent slow street. Congratulations to everyone who worked so hard to make this happen!"
"We're thrilled Page Street is now an official Slow Street, adding a key piece to the network," wrote Jodie Medeiros, executive director, Walk San Francisco, in an email to Streetsblog. "Slow Page has so much support and has shown why these spaces matter for both our safety and for building community."
Streetsblog readers will recall that last summer internal communications surfaced between the Mayor's Office--Mayor London Breed lives on Page--and SFMTA implying that the intent was to mostly reopen the street to cut-through traffic, in addition to sun-setting the entire Slow Streets program. Advocates fought back hard and managed to put the brakes on such notions.
And, as indicated in advocate Luke Bornheimer's celebratory Tweet, even the contentious diverter at Divis will remain in the project:
"We're thrilled to see Page Street approved as a part of the newly permanent Slow Streets program," wrote San Francisco Bicycle Coalition spokesperson Nesrine Majzoub in an email to Streetsblog. "Page Street has become an invaluable community space and safe passage for people biking and walking. Now, we're setting our sights on ensuring that the permanent Slow Streets program can expand to more neighborhoods in the city."
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