Pedestrian Safety

Ed Lee is at it again. After the mayor's car was found parked in a Muni bus stop, he was spotted entering the vehicle while it blocked a crosswalk.

Supervisor Eric Mar requested a city study last week about how lower speed limits could benefit San Francisco. Although lowering speed limits without implementing physical traffic calming measures isn't a panacea for safer streets, the measure does hold promise as a first step toward saving lives and implementing Vision Zero. San Francisco would follow in the footsteps of New York City, Paris, and the United Kingdom in looking at major speed limit reductions.

Residents of North Fair Oaks have made it clear that they want a safer Middlefield Road with wider sidewalks, but San Mateo County has yet to commit to a redesign that could make a real difference on this important commercial street.

The SFMTA plans make upgrades to the Howard and Folsom Street bike lanes, a couplet of one-way bike routes that run through SoMa. A section of Howard will get a three-foot buffer zone added to its bike lane, as well as painted sidewalk bulb-outs. On Folsom, an intersection with the Bay Bridge on-ramp at Essex Street will be re-configured with a new bike traffic signal.

The Planning Department has an online survey about the Haight Street proposals, available until July 3.

The SF Fire Department will allow many of the new streets built in the Candlestick Point development to remain narrower than 26 feet under a compromise with street safety advocates. SFFD had insisted at the 11th hour that all new city streets must have at least 26 feet of clear roadway for firefighters to set up fire trucks and reach the tops of taller buildings, even though wider roads are known to increase driving speeds and traffic crashes.

The SFMTA web page that provides guidance on "how to park legally" currently tells drivers that "you may park in your own driveway as long as no portion of your vehicle extends over the sidewalk." The text is accompanied by a photo of someone walking a bike past cars parked in "driveways," but with their rear ends extending well into what appears to be the sidewalk.

Updated 8:07 p.m. The SFPD issued this statement:

How to walk on city streets, and to fear cars while doing so, is something that's taught to small children everywhere. Once those kids grow up and get driver's licenses, however, teaching the same kids to avoid running over other people doesn't seem to be a major part of the curriculum.