Two-way conversion of Ellis and Eddy moving forward

Eddy & Leavenworth. Photo courtesy of FoundSF, Chris Carlsson.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency finally seems to be pursuing two-way conversion for a handful of one-way blocks in the Tenderloin on Ellis and Eddy streets.  Ellis and Eddy, as well as other streets in the Tenderloin, host relatively minimal vehicle traffic.  Yet despite the neighborhood’s very low vehicle ownership rate [1], these streets are designed for the principal purpose of allowing motorists to pass quickly to and from downtown with nary a thought for the neighborhood through which they are passing.

Collisions in the Tenderloin involving pedestrians are not limited to those that are graphically captured on video.  The fact that pedestrian “accidents” occur relatively uniformly at intersections throughout the Tenderloin, with many of those involving serious injury or death, suggests that it would be desirable to rethink street design throughout the neighborhood in a way that prioritizes vulnerable users.

Tenderloin pedestrian accidents. Courtesy of SFCTA.

A plan to convert thoroughfares like Ellis, Eddy, Jones, and Leavenworth into two-way streets could carry multiple benefits, including improving safety, consolidating difficult-to-describe transit routes running on one-way couplets into more legible routes running on two-way streets, and infusing the feel of a genuine neighborhood into one of San Francisco’s densest neighborhoods.  Despite the fact that converting streets to two-way operation has long been recognized and supported in community surveys (PDF) as an important tool for calming traffic, the plan has mostly been collecting dust on the shelf, left unrealized for years. [2]

It looks now to be moving forward, at least partially.  Excerpted from the list of proposals that will be heard at the SFMTA engineering hearing this Friday, April 13 is the following:

REVOKE – ONE-WAY

Eddy Street, between Larkin and Leavenworth Streets (2 blocks)

Ellis Street, between Polk and Jones Streets (4 blocks)

The SFMTA’s Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP), which is now undergoing environmental review, has considered revising the current route of the 27-Bryant line.  The concept of two-way conversion is harmonious with the proposed revisions (PDF) as the route could be consolidated onto Ellis and Leavenworth, which is currently the routing of just the inbound direction.  The above proposal for Ellis does not completely facilitate that change but, pending implementation of the TEP, still provides independent benefits.

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[1] According to the 2000 Census, 82 percent of Tenderloin households did not own a car, compared to Manhattan, where 77 percent of households did not own a car.

[2] One opportunity that was identified to make a transit route more legible through two-way conversion has been implemented.  The inbound 5-Fulton’s jog over to Market Street via Hyde was eliminated in favor of a simpler and more direct path via McAllister.