SFMTA is quietly preparing to remove the "neck down" safety treatment at Kirkham and 9th in the Inner Sunset. A tipster pointed out the following item on Friday's agenda for SFMTA's regularly scheduled engineering committee hearing: "Proposal to install the above traffic calming devices to replace [emphasis added] the midblock neck down on Kirkham Street between 9th and 10th Avenues."
The agency is planning to install a "three-lump speed cushion" instead.
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar's office emailed Streetsblog the following in response to questions about the neck down:
Residents gave us important feedback about the trial. They talked about street use, confusion about who has the right of way, safety, congestion, and suggested alternate interventions like speed humps. Some shared that the neck down made them feel safer crossing the street and were supportive of the change. Some said they weren’t told enough about the project in advance and want to be more involved in planning future changes.
"Unfortunately, the neck down hasn't been working as intended. The data shows that we weren't getting the results we wanted in traffic speeds and safety," they added. Readers can see her entire statement here.
Streetsblog has requested the data that shows the neck down isn't working both from Melgar's office and SFMTA and has yet to receive a reply. The SFMTA website, on the project, however, has the following:
The trial showed that neck downs can help slow down cars. Although there was no recorded increase in collisions near the neck down, results also suggest neck downs might be better suited on lower volume streets without dedicated bike lanes or frequent commercial loading activities. Community feedback [emphasis added] showed it wasn't right for this street, so we are now looking at other ways to slow traffic and improve safety.
When Streetsblog last reported on this relatively new installation earlier this year, SFMTA's data showed that the neck down was working as intended and slowing traffic. Moreover, neck downs are only "new" in San Francisco. Sometimes called "pinch points," they are ubiquitous in Vision Zero cities overseas.
It's obvious from SFMTA's statements and those from Melgar's office that the neck down is working but, as usual, a few angry neighbors are pressing for its removal. The heavily windshield-biased mainstream media, as usual, amplified those voices. But from Streetsblog's view, neck downs are exactly the kind of infrastructure that transfers the onus of safety onto motorists instead of vulnerable road users. They require motorists to slow down, put their cell phones away, and pay attention. Without this shifting of responsibility to drivers, Vision Zero is impossible.
SFMTA should be building more neck downs, not tearing them out. Krissa Cavouras of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, which supported the neck down, said they are formulating a position and will "...certainly be giving comment on Friday and likely turning out some members to do so."
Walk San Francisco did not respond when asked to comment on the city's plans to remove the neck down. However, Walk S.F.'s Marta Lindsey wrote this in response to last January's story: "Dangerous speeding threatens our lives and our communities. With speed as the #1 cause of severe and fatal traffic crashes in San Francisco, we should be celebrating solutions like this and asking for more."
