Comments on: Better Streets for the Mission District

By: Josh

Josh — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 21:30:29 +0000

For bus/bike only, I’d much rather see Mission St. go that direction. There are environmental justice issues related to diverting all of Valencia St (mostly white) traffic to Mission St (mostly latin). But in reality, the main auto corridors are Guerrero and So. Van Ness anyway.

Mission St, however, will have major bus service even post-TEP (in fact, it’s the #1 heaviest ridership in the city) and so could use the space and freedom from cars. Moreover, it lies directly between two BART stations. The new green “Miracle Mile” would greatly improve bus reliability for a huge number of Muni riders, as well as revitalize a thoroughfare that remains one of the most economically productive, even in its current rundown state.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 30 May 2008 15:19:36 +0000

Well, with or without Oakdale, a Bayview connection still makes sense, but connections to regional nodes are always nice. Under current conditions, Baby Bullet runs from SF to SJ with the extra stop would run over the hour mark. 22nd Street is well-used for the BB runs, and it remains to be seen how many riders Oakdale will generate. That said, this whole corridor will change pretty dramatically with electrification and HSR, opening up new opportunities for service enhancements.

In other words, we have a ways to go yet. :-)

By: johnny0

johnny0 — Thu, 29 May 2008 22:56:30 +0000

Ahh, you mean the Oakdale station plans?

http://www.sfcta.org/content/view/320/167/

About 10-15 minutes from CC nd Valencia, not too bad.

Another challenge will be getting Caltrain to make that station *and* 22nd be Baby Bullet stops. (That, or actually making Caltrain go faster than the average speed on 280…)

By: The Overhead Wire

The Overhead Wire — Thu, 29 May 2008 06:08:13 +0000

Oops. Yeah the 49. I must repeat the number 38 too much ;) Yeah, the idea would be to shift all service to the Valencia corridor. I think if you widened the sidewalks to allow for cafes and used trolley buses the whole distance along with bike lanes combined with the Mission’s sun exposure it would make it an amazing street.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:41:13 +0000

Did you mean the 49-VN/Mission, instead of the 38, so that the BRT corridor is basically Van Ness-Valencia-Mission? The one issue with splitting service between Mission and Valencia is that you lose out on having the really short headways. Is your proposal to move all bus service off of Mission and onto Valencia, or to split it up?

By: The Overhead Wire

The Overhead Wire — Thu, 29 May 2008 05:29:45 +0000

What do you all think about getting rid of the 26 and pushing the 38 over to Valencia if it will be BRT. Dunno if its feasible but it wouldn’t be a big time suck. At the North end there is a direct link up. And on the South end it merges back into mission street.

By: Eric

Eric — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:58:10 +0000

With my earlier comment, I wasn’t disagreeing; it would be cool to see Valencia bus/bike only, though there are other places in SF I’d rather see prohibited to cars first. In any event, removing the middle lanes is a start. That Valencia plan proposes a one foot widening of bicycle lanes, among other changes, so it would fall under the injunction. Hopefully by the time the Bike Plan EIR gets finished, the streetscape plan will be ready to go into action.

For CC BRT, another alternative is a Bayview connection. Either way, it’d be a good crosstown connection and there’s plenty of space.

By: johnny0

johnny0 — Thu, 29 May 2008 00:23:52 +0000

I’d *love* Valencia to go bus/bike only.

Re any BRT down Cesar Chavez, it needs to stop at the 22nd St Caltrain station.

Will Valencia look the same or will they be getting rid of the middle lanes?

http://www.sfenvironment.com/livablecity/downloads/Valencia.pdf
http://sfmta.com/cms/ocalm/34725.html

Or did the bicycle injunction delay it?

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 28 May 2008 20:24:30 +0000

Well, seeing as how the TEP proposes to eliminate the 26-Valencia, there goes the bus part. It’s generally a pretty low-key street, and I think a lot of drivers do avoid it, leaving the impression that there is more pavement there than necessary.

By: The Overhead Wire

The Overhead Wire — Wed, 28 May 2008 17:45:39 +0000

I’ve been thinking that they should make Valencia into a bus/bike only street. It’s only a block off Mission and flat to boot. Has anyone thought about that? I know I avoid it when I drive and I imagine others already do as well.