Op-Ed: Latest Arguello Tragedy Demands Action by Mayor, Other City Leaders
Last Monday, 80-year-old Yuan Jun Zhu was killed while crossing the street at the intersection of Arguello Boulevard and Anza Street in the Richmond District. This happened next to a playground, one block from a school, and three blocks from Golden Gate Park. Zhu’s death is another tragic reminder that the dangerous, outdated design of our streets leads to people being killed or injured. The city has failed to implement best practices to make our streets safe.
Tragically, this isn’t the first time someone has been killed on Arguello Boulevard or that I have advocated for street safety improvements on this vibrant neighborhood corridor.
Streets Forward’s Intuitive Intersection Initiative is a three-pillar solution that calls for painting every unmarked crosswalk, adding bike and scooter parking in every daylighting zone, and installing No Turn on Red signs at every traffic light. This needs to be implemented on Arguello.
While the crosswalks at the intersection of Arguello and Anza are marked, turns on red are allowed—as they are at every traffic light on Arguello and Anza. Both streets are 56 feet wide, an unnecessarily long crossing distance that makes crashes more likely. This is supported by research by Marcel Moran, which analyzed crosswalks in San Francisco.
When the city achieves the minimum level of safety that the Intuitive Intersection Initiative delivers, there will still remain hazards to be addressed. And for these, there is yet another suite of data-driven interventions the city can enact at minimal cost.
One of the best evidence-backed solutions that may have prevented the tragic killing of Zhu isn’t obvious to the layperson. Shifting bike lanes to curbside and protecting them from car traffic shortens crossing distance and decreases speeding, reckless driving, and crashes. Evidence from San Francisco and around the world shows that curbside, protected bike lanes increase safety for all people, including pedestrians. They are especially helpful for children, seniors, people with disabilities, and, of course, people on bikes and scooters. Curbside, protected bike lanes even make streets safer for people in cars.
Both Arguello Boulevard and Anza Street have only striped bike lanes. Upgrading these to protected bike lanes might have prevented Zhu from being killed and will prevent future tragedies. Upgrading the unprotected bike lanes to protected bike lanes will also help people shift trips to walking, biking, and scooting, especially for children, women, seniors, and people with disabilities—people are more likely to use these modes when they feel safe doing so.
In April 2023, USA Cycling champion Ethan Boyes was killed while riding a bike on Arguello. One month later, in response to advocates, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) created a design for parking-protected bike lanes on Arguello. Advocates got Supervisors Chan, Melgar, and Stefani to call for protected bike lanes on Arguello, and then Assembly Budget Chair Phil Ting secured $1.25 million for the protected lanes. In August 2023, SFMTA launched the Arguello Safety Project with a commitment for project implementation and construction by Winter 2023. The project webpage has since been updated to show Fall/Winter 2024.
But the state funding remains unutilized while Arguello Boulevard’s unprotected bike lanes and dangerous design remain in place, an omission that may have cost Zhu his life.
Which brings us to our best path forward.
Last week, Mayor Daniel Lurie said that “street safety is public safety” and that he and the City “will continue working to make our streets safer and prevent tragedies like this from happening.”
Mayor Lurie could direct SFMTA to install protected bike lanes on Arguello Boulevard and Anza Street by the end of the year. The Mayor could make these streets substantially safer and prevent future tragedies.
More broadly, Mayor Lurie and the Board of Supervisors can secure funding to convert all bike lanes to protected bike lanes, as well as support the Complete Crosswalks Campaign and the Intuitive Intersection Initiative.
Zhu’s death should not be in vain. All San Franciscans deserve safe streets.
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Luke Bornheimer is the Executive Director of Streets Forward, a nonprofit initiative working to make it safe, fast, and easy to get around San Francisco. Sign up for Streets Forward updates and event invites.
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