For the past month, the Valencia Bikeway Improvement team has been focusing on safety improvements, promoting the economic vitality of the corridor and making sure that people and goods can move safely. In February, the SFMTA Board of Directors directed us to continue pursuing two parallel paths for this project: iterating on the existing center-running bicycle lane design and exploring a side-running bicycle lane design.
Here’s a snapshot of what our team worked on in March.
Bringing Back Single Space Meters
We heard from merchants and visitors to Valencia Street that it’s hard to understand where to park and when it’s legal to do so. Our team reduced this confusion by converting the 500 and 600 blocks of Valencia Street to single-space parking meters from multi-space parking meters. These meters bring back a familiar feel to the parking experience, aligning a parking meter directly with the space next to it. In the next couple weeks, we’ll be converting the 700 and 800 blocks of Valencia as well.
In addition, we added large decals on the back of the meters that make it clear to drivers when it is legal to park at the meter.
We hope to continue expanding these changes to other blocks of the pilot area in the coming months.
Improving Turn Signage
Our team has heard several complaints about illegal left turns and U-turns on Valencia Street. In response to this feedback, we have installed additional, larger signage throughout the corridor to deter these illegal turns. We continue to monitor driving behavior on Valencia and stand ready to adjust as needed. We anticipate that SFPD will be enforcing the left turn and U-turn restrictions.
Side-Running Bicycle Lane Design
We have been meeting with merchants to figure out the best design for a side-running bicycle lane. This outreach will continue as we closely review each block and figure out how we can accommodate the bike lane as well as loading and parking needs.
Surveyors Coming to Valencia
We would like to continue understanding how residents, visitors, and merchants travel to, from and within the Valencia corridor during this pilot. We have developed survey questions to understand who is visiting Valenica Street and what they think of the pilot project.
These questions are important as they will allow us to more deeply understand how people get to Valencia, where they are going, and their perception of traffic safety, especially in regard to the new center-running protected bikeway. This survey is part of our 6-month evaluation of the center-running protected bikeway design and the results will be used to assess how the design is working to improve traffic safety and transportation along Valencia Street.
Beginning in April, you will see our ambassadors on the corridor “intercepting” individuals randomly to ask them questions like:
- What mode of transportation did you use to get to Valencia Street?
- Are you traveling from, to or through the neighborhood?
- What is the purpose of your visit today?
The results of this survey will help to inform our work. We are aiming to share these survey results at our six-month pilot evaluation presentation with the SFMTA board and the public this summer or shortly thereafter.
Looking Forward
We will continue our dual-path design work as we attempt to talk to as many community members as possible. We are holding multiple, complex conversations with merchants, residents and people who travel on the corridor.
We want to hear from you – please submit your feedback to Valencia@SFMTA.com. For more information, visit our project website at SFMTA.com/Valencia.