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The Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project is an effort to improve safety for people walking, biking, taking transit and driving on Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street. It will bring a variety of improvements to the corridor including, wider sidewalks, a new median, new paving, landscaping, raised bikeways, better lighting and upgraded sewer infrastructure.
For years, Masonic Avenue has been the site of many traffic-related injuries and the corridor is currently on San Francisco’s Vision Zero High Injury Network. This network represents 12 percent of San Francisco’s surface streets and is where injuries, including severe and fatal injuries, are most concentrated.
From 2009 to 2014, there were 113 traffic collisions on Masonic Avenue between Fell Street and Geary Boulevard. This includes 14 pedestrian collisions and 24 bicycle collisions, including two fatalities.
In 2008, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a redesign of Masonic Avenue. After an extensive community planning effort, the Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project received approval to move forward from the SFMTA Board of Directors, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) Board of Commissioners and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC.)
- Completed
Construction is underway on the Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project!
The Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project will improve safety for all people travelling on Masonic Avenue between Geary Boulevard and Fell Street.
This project was initiated, designed and selected by the community and is the result of a multi-year planning process. The project came forward as the result of a community petition and a Board of Supervisors resolution to improve safety for all who use the corridor.
A community outreach and planning process began in 2008 and continued through to 2012 when a preferred design was chosen. The preferred design was approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors in September 2012 and was later approved for funding by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority Board of Commissioners in June 2013.
Project Goals
- Increase pedestrian and bicycle safety by reducing the number of traffic collisions
- Increase the safety of pedestrian crossings
- Improve transit operations
- Improve pedestrian and non-motorized access to transit
- Increase motorist compliance with traffic rules and regulations
- Support neighborhood vitality by creating a more inviting and accommodating public realm
Safety Needs
Every year, 30 people are killed and 200 more are seriously injured while travelling on city streets. As a county, San Francisco ranks among the highest (worst) for traffic deaths and injuries in California. These deaths and injuries are unacceptable and preventable, and San Francisco is committed to eliminating them.
By adopting a policy called Vision Zero 2014, the City and County of San Francisco is committed to building better and safer streets, educating the public on traffic safety, enforcing traffic laws, and prioritizing resources to implement effective initiatives that save lives. Vision Zero aims to eliminate all traffic deaths in San Francisco by 2024.
The Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project is in support of Vision Zero and will implement targeted, proven safety improvements on Masonic Avenue, one of the city’s streets that account for a disproportionate amount of traffic collisions (119 collisions and two fatalities in 2007 – 2012 alone.)
Community Process
The Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project came forward as the result of a community petition signed by more than 500 people and a Board of Supervisors resolution to improve safety on the corridor. The project was initiated design and selected by the community.
There were five, widely advertised and well-attended community meetings for the project and multiple public hearings that allowed for public participation in this project. More than 1,400 mailers were sent out to addresses on and near the corridor and there was a broad effort to engage the community through door-to-door outreach.
Design
The Masonic Avenue Streetscape Project will bring a variety of improvements to the corridor, including:
- New landscaped median
- Separated bicycle facilities
- Widened portions of the sidewalk
- Repaving
- Sewer infrastructure improvements
- Sidewalk bulbouts
- Bus bulbouts to make Muni more efficient
- New street trees and sidewalk planters
- Better lighting in the medians
- Sidewalk lighting for pedestrians
- New public plaza on the southwest corner of Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue
These designs were selected by the community and approved by various government bodies. Furthermore, the project was vetted through California’s extensive CEQA review process which requires state and local agencies to identify the significant impacts of their projects and to avoid or mitigate those impacts, if feasible.
To learn more about CEQA, please see the state’s CEQA Frequently Asked Questions webpage.
Cost
This project will cost $26 million and is primarily funded by SFMTA revenue bond monies.
- $16.8M will go to street safety and beautification
- $8.6M will upgrade outdated sewer and water infrastructure
- $700K will fund additional repaving
