Bike Lanes

Three months after San Francisco's first parking-protected bike lanes were striped on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park, the street continues to thrive as a calmer, safer place all users. The flocks of people using the lanes this summer appear to include more families than ever, and by and large, drivers and pedestrians seem to have adapted well to the new configuration.

Contrary to what the name implies, bike lanes in San Francisco have cars in them all the time. Presumably, a car left with blinking hazard lights on means the driver is just "running in for a minute," as if to minimize the impact of endangering people on bicycles.

A new buffered bike lane was striped on 8th Street last week, re-purposing a traffic lane for bicycles on one of SoMa's fast, one-way motorways. The new configuration, which removes bicyclists from the door zone and provides a much wider lane, is an improvement over the four speed-inducing traffic lanes and skinny bike lane that previously existed. Still, many say it's just a small step toward a truly safer street.

The SFMTA has begun striping work on new bike lanes along 8th Street in SoMa and 17th Street in the Mission and Potrero Hill.

The SFMTA recently striped a partial bike lane and sharrows on a block of Lee Avenue connecting Ocean and Holloway Avenues in Ingleside. The improvements are a small piece of a plan to calm traffic and improve bicycling conditions on the Holloway corridor, which connects SF State University to City College Ocean Campus and the Balboa Park BART Station.

Advocates for a safer Second Street have released a new rendering showing how the street could function better for pedestrians and cyclists if a protected bike lane is included in the coming redesign.

The SFMTA recently added green paint to increase the visibility of bike lanes around the city at five intersections where drivers merge across bicycle traffic.

Note: The Better Market Street Project will hold two public workshops on July 17 and 21, where you can provide feedback on the proposed concepts.

The SF Planning Department this week unveiled its final design for pedestrian improvements on a stretch of Broadway in Chinatown.