Eyes on the Street: Beale Street Bike Lane Upgrades Underway

As part of a larger project to redo utilities, San Francisco Public Works and SFMTA are adding concrete curbs to the two-way bike lane on Beale Street between Market and Folsom.

From SF Public Works:

The project scope of work includes sidewalk reconstruction, sidewalk bulb-out construction, curb ramp reconstruction, concrete street base repair and street re-paving. We will also be constructing new concrete islands dividing Beale Street’s two-way bicycle lane from adjacent vehicle travel lanes, replacing the existing plastic bollards in this area.

This work will primarily be taking place on the block of Beale between Market and Missions Streets. Minimal work will be taking place on Beale between Mission and Howard Streets, as the only planned improvements to that block are the installation of concrete islands between the bicycle lane and vehicle travel lanes. 

Cyclists are already using the new infrastructure where it’s available, such as on the section in front of the Salesforce Transit Center, as seen below:

By contrast, closer to Market Street, the bike lane is obliterated for now with the street torn up.

The Beale Street protected lane is something the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition started advocating for years ago. “It’s great that Beale Street has concrete protecting the two-way bike lane; in general we’re glad that DPW and SFMTA are enhancing protected bike infrastructure when they do other street works,” said SFBike’s Krissa Cavouras.

More from SF Public Works:

Thursday, June 4th, our sewer subcontractor will be replacing a worn down portion of the sewer system outside of 333 Market Street, on Beale Street near the Market Street intersection. This work is expected to take roughly three workdays to complete, and will require temporary closures of the bus lane on this block of Beale Street. Sidewalk and building access for pedestrians will be maintained at all times throughout this work.

Throughout next week, we will be relocating a catch basin at the Mission Street and Beale Street intersection. This work is expected to take place between Tuesday, June 9th and Thursday, June 11th. 

From Streetsblog’s view, the concrete curbs represent a worthwhile upgrade from the plastic posts that were there before. The bike lane protection could be improved by robust protective infrastructure, however, similar to the Manhattan example below:

It’s also disappointing that there were no provisions for cyclists during construction on the parts where the street is torn up. As the photo below from a construction project years ago in Oakland illustrates, it’s perfectly feasible to make construction areas safe for all people, whether they’re in a car, walking, or on a bike.