Moving the 14 Mission Forward

For all of you Mission Street transit riders, we have good news to share. Mission Street is on track to get a big makeover, which means your commute is going to get a lot quicker, and much more reliable!

Last week, the SFMTA Board of Directors approved the 14 Mission Rapid Project on Mission Street between 11th and Randall, part of our Muni Forward program to enhance the safety and reliability of major transit corridors across the city.

This project was developed pairing deep community insight with technical expertise in order to solve several transportation challenges that currently exist on Mission Street. What we heard from riders and residents in the Mission were the same problems we were seeing on the street:

1. Mission Street transit is slow and unreliable because the lanes are too narrow, traffic is congested, and private vehicles are often double parked.
2. Pedestrian safety when walking is of concern due to turning vehicles and long crossing distances.

With these challenges in mind, we worked closely with the community to develop a suite of treatments for Mission Street that will make Muni’s 14/14R and 49 more reliable, reduce transit travel time along the corridor by 5 minutes each way, and also enhance safety for people walking along Mission Street.

So what will Mission Street look like when this project is in place? Have a look below at a sample intersection to get a sense of how we’re redesigning the street to prioritize transit and pedestrian safety.

To sum it up— Mission Street between 11th and Cesar Chavez will consist of one southbound transit-only lane with a northbound shared lane.

Traveling south between 11th and Cesar Chavez:

• Private vehicles will share the left lane, while Muni travels in the right.
• New right turn pockets will keep turning vehicles clear of Muni’s lane.
• Left turn restrictions will mitigate delay for through traffic, and keep pedestrians safe as they cross the street.

Traveling north:

• Muni and private vehicles will share the lane, but private vehicles will turn right off Mission at the following intersections:
  • 16th Street
  • 20th Street
  • 22nd Street
  • 24th Street
  • 26th Street
• Right turn pockets will move the queue of turning vehicles out of Muni’s lane so the bus can easily travel through the intersection.
  • With this, a red transit-only lane will be striped at the approach of the intersection to distinguish Muni’s lane.
• Left turn restrictions, like in the southbound direction, will reduce delay and improve safety.

For more details, read more about our design considerations.

South of Cesar Chavez to Randall Street:

• This section of Mission is wider than the northern section, so transit-only lanes will be installed going north and southbound, with new right turn pockets for autos.

Other key features of this project include new transit bulbs, which will make it easier and safer to board the bus, and stop consolidation, which allows Muni to travel the same distance in less time. Pedestrian bulbs are also included in the package, to shorten crossing distances and enhance visibility for people walking, and we’ll be adjusting the pedestrian countdown timers along the route to give folks a head start when crossing the street.

We’ll be implementing this project in phases in order to get some of the major reliability improvements on the ground as soon as possible. Our tentative timeline involves the first phase of the project to hit the streets in early 2016, which will include turn restrictions, stop consolidation and red transit-only lanes. The more permanent street features like transit and pedestrian bulbs will arrive in 2017. We’ll keep you posted once we have a finalized schedule for construction.

To stay in the loop on key developments with this project, sign up for email updates, or learn more about the project online.

Last week’s Board approval for the 14 Mission Rapid Project brings Muni Forward to a total of 12 miles of transit priority improvements legislated and coming to San Francisco streets soon.

Tell us how we’re doing at TellMuni.com, or reach out with questions to muniforward@sfmta.com.  

A 14R Mission Rapid stopped at a new transit bulb on Mission at 30th.