Vulnerable road users attempting to squeeze between the rails and a garbage truck on Market Street in Feb. Despite all the talk, little is being done to remedy dangerous situations such as this that persist around the city. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick
“Thirty-seven people were killed in all traffic crashes in 2022, which is the deadliest year since the City adopted Vision Zero in 2014,” wrote Walk San Francisco, in a statement following the death of a third pedestrian in San Francisco late last month. That pedestrian was killed at Franklin and Eddy Streets, the site of three motorist vs. pedestrian injury collisions since 2018.
This seems especially pertinent as SFMTA starts construction this week on the poster child for watered-down safety projects, Better Market Street (or Bummer Market Street, as it’s come to be called). From a KQED report:
After more than a decade of planning, work crews will break ground Monday on the first phase of the Better Market Street project to redesign San Francisco’s busiest thoroughfare with a variety of safety and aesthetic upgrades. Phase one will focus on the area between 5th and 8th streets on the corridor, and include traffic signal upgrades, wider sidewalks at intersections to reduce crossing times for pedestrians, repaving to reduce tripping hazards, wider ADA-compliant curb ramps and streetscape improvements.
That’s great, but after years of outreach, public meetings,comments, and posts this publication and others produced, the promised sidewalk-level bike lanes that would truly make the street safe for all users won’t be built. Note the lead photo of scooterists trying to navigate between wheel-grabbing trolley tracks and a garbage truck. Amazingly, that won’t change even after the hundreds of millions the city is about to spend.
A County Transportation Authority rendering of what Market Street was supposed to look like before the project was essentially scrapped.A County Transportation Authority rendering of what Market Street was supposed to look like before the program was scrapped.
Streetsblog readers know what happened–the city decided the lives of people who bike and roll aren’t worth it and declared the planned bike lanes, rendered above, too expensive. Of course, that’s utter nonsense. They’re going to spend $600 million on these Market Street changes but they can’t find a way to build bike lanes?
“How is this ok?” asked advocate Paul Valdez, who snapped this picture at the intersection of Sansome and Market. It’s not. And it won’t be fixed."How is this ok?" asks Paul Valdez, who snapped this picture at the intersection of Sansome and Market. It's not. And it won't be fixed.
The point of view of a cyclist squeezing between twenty-ton vehicles. From a bike-mounted camera on a trip down ‘car-free’ Market Street. Image: captured from Luke Spray’s twitterThe point of view of a cyclist squeezed between 20 ton vehicles from a bike cam during a recent trip down 'car free' Market Street. Image: captured from Luke Spray's twitter
Besides, SFPD essentially stopped enforcing the private vehicle ban shortly after it was put in place.
On Friday, the community came out to 16th and Valencia to hold space, mourn the death of Wan Mei Tan and demand long-overdue street safety improvements in the Mission that prioritize people over speeding cars.
Then there are all the other dangerous streets in San Francisco that go unfixed, or under-fixed, in the name of political “compromise.” There’s no mystery as to why the city is not on track to achieving Vision Zero.
When the city cut the protected bike lanes from Market Street, they signed a death warrant for some random person or persons. What could be better proof that city officials are paying lip service to Vision Zero?