We’re working to make your trips across the Panhandle safer – no matter how you get around.
The Panhandle is set to receive significant upgrades that aim to make trips safer and more efficient for people walking, biking and driving. Our Board of Directors has approved the Oak Street Quick-Build Project.
The Oak Street Quick-Build Project is another example of how we are taking a community-wide approach to improve safety for people walking, biking or driving when they visit or travel through the Panhandle.
We’re making this possible by improving crosswalks, adding a separated bike lane and adjusting turn lanes and traffic signals in the area.
These upgrades are important because there were 74 collisions on Oak Street within the project area from January 2019 to December 2023. Nearly half of them involved people walking or biking. With the Fell Street Quick-Build Project, a mirror image of the Oak proposal, there was a 38% drop in total collisions and a 50% drop in pedestrian collisions over a five-year period, and vehicle travel time increased by only 8–17 seconds.
The public’s safety is our number one priority, and as we continue to work to improve safety and efficiency in neighborhoods across the city, we have been listening to community members and responding to their concerns.
This is how we’re improving trips, engaging communities and moving forward with safety upgrades.
Improving every trip across the Panhandle
We’re making upgrades that aim to help:
People walking:
- Have a safer experience crossing the street.
- On Baker Street, we’re adding concrete islands to reinforce state daylighting laws the SFMTA is required to implement.
- Experience fewer conflicts with people biking in the Panhandle.
- We’re adding a protected bikeway on Oak Street to support people who prefer faster trips than the current mixed-use path allows.
- Cross Masonic with their own light while vehicles wait on red to turn left.
- We’re adding a dedicated signal for people walking and biking across Masonic at Oak to improve safety at the intersection.
People biking:
- Enjoy a safer, more connected bikeway network.
- The new protected bikeway on Oak Street between Ashbury Street and Masonic Avenue will support safer, crosstown trips. It will link the Inner Sunset to the Panhandle and the popular bike route: “The Wiggle.”
- This change will also reduce pressure on the existing mixed-use bike path in the Panhandle.
- We’re also adding a dedicated signal for bikes at Oak and Baker streets.
- People biking will be able to access the intersection on their own while other vehicles are paused.
- The new protected bikeway on Oak Street between Ashbury Street and Masonic Avenue will support safer, crosstown trips. It will link the Inner Sunset to the Panhandle and the popular bike route: “The Wiggle.”
People driving:
- Spend less time and effort turning left from Oak to Masonic.
- We’re adding one more left turn lane at this intersection so that there will be two dedicated left turn lanes.
- Experience fewer delays heading downtown on Oak.
- The additional left turn lane will help reduce the number of cars blocking traffic as they merge toward the left side of Oak to reach Masonic.
To address safety concerns, we’ve been meeting with community members who walk, bike, roll and drive.
Prioritizing safety and responding to community concerns
Oak Street is part of San Francisco's high-injury network -- the 12% of city streets that account for 68% of severe and fatal traffic collisions citywide.
To improve safety along the corridor, we connected with a range of community members.
Hundreds of people shared feedback that helped shape the project. In late 2023, our project team conducted 22 open houses, both virtually and in person. Last summer, we held a pop-up event at Fell Street and Masonic Avenue. We also hosted online open houses and two virtual office hour sessions that attracted over 300 participants.
Community members told us that it can be hard to cross Masonic Avenue and Baker Street when you’re walking on Oak—especially for families accessing the park. They also asked for a solution along the Panhandle that would reduce conflicts on a busy multi-use path where people walk, bike and roll across town. We incorporated this feedback into our safety upgrades. As a result, the Quick-Build includes a separate pedestrian signal at Masonic Avenue and Oak Street. It also features a separated bikeway that people can use when they bike downtown. This should reduce their need for the mixed-use path.
People who bike told us they needed a safer travel path across town and more protection while they ride. We listened and designed a separate traffic signal phase at Masonic Avenue for people on bicycles. We also made plans for additional painted crossing areas, which will provide a higher level of visibility in the crosswalk for people who bike. Plus, we included concrete island improvements in the Quick-Build project. They will be in daylighted zones and will help separate bicycles from other traffic, making the journey safer for all.
People who drive vehicles told us of their concerns about congestion since the project will remove one travel lane. The team has conducted traffic analysis and expects traffic to flow similarly as it does today. That’s in large part due to the left turn improvements at Oak Street and Masonic Avenue. Additionally, a separate left turn traffic signal phase at Masonic Avenue and having three consistent travel lanes throughout the corridor will create a safer, calmer driving experience.
We also heard concerns about parking, and we’ve worked hard to minimize the impact. This project preserves 94% of legal parking. That’s 410 out of 437 spaces in the project area. At the same time, we’re able to make the street safer and more efficient for everyone. A small number of spaces are being removed to improve left turns, connect bike routes and meet the new state safety daylighting law.
Additionally, we received feedback from various community members expressing concern about excessive speeding on Oak Street. The three-lane configuration we designed will reduce the opportunity to speed and perform unsafe maneuvers throughout the Panhandle.
Next steps and staying in touch
The project will be broken up into two phases.
- This year we will get a head start by implementing the traffic signal upgrades to Oak Street and Masonic Avenue to provide near-term safety improvements.
- Crews will also focus on curb changes to adhere to the state’s daylighting law the SFMTA is required to implement.
- In 2026, we will implement the protected bike lane and right size the road from four lanes to three between Stanyan and Baker streets.
- It’s important that we collaborate with Public Works as they repave the road to make sure these two projects are done at the same time and in the most efficient way possible.
To stay informed about the Oak Street Quick-Build Project, you can sign up for updates on our Oak Street Quick-Build signup webpage.