Parking along the Dolores Street center median is authorized in the travel lanes adjacent to the center medians on Dolores Street for specific periods of time on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (see below for times and locations). The project was approved for implementation by the SFMTA Board of Directors 2018.
Parking alongside Dolores Street center medians is permitted at the following times and locations on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays:
-
Fridays, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m.
- Dolores Street between Alert Alley and 16th Street, southbound only
- Saturdays, 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
- Dolores Street between Alert Alley and 16th Street, southbound only
- Sundays, 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Dolores Street between 14th and 18th streets, both northbound and southbound
Vehicles parked between medians, in red zones and outside of permitted parking hours will be ticketed and potentially towed. Signage and curb paint indicate when and where parking is permitted along the corridor.
Project History
On January 17, 2017, the SFMTA Board of Directors approved the Dolores Street Median Parking Pilot, which is a 16-month pilot project that will authorize parking alongside certain Dolores Street center medians between 14th and 18th Streets. The pilot is intended to provide clarity as to the times and dates during which “median parking” (the term commonly used to refer to the practice of parking vehicles in the travel lane adjacent to the Dolores Street center medians) will be permitted. The pilot will likewise increase the safety of Dolores Street for all street users by limiting where and when the parking may occur.
The goals and objectives of the median parking pilot are as follows:
- Formalize median parking alongside specific Dolores Street center medians between 14th and 18th Streets, limited to locations where it has historically existed
- Clarify and eliminate the existing uncertainty that surrounds median parking:
- Specify times and dates during which median parking will be permitted
- Ensure that the public is aware that anyone – regardless of organizational affiliation or lack thereof – may engage in median parking
- Actively enforce median parking rules and regulations in order to ensure the success of the pilot.
- Increase safety of the Dolores corridor by:
- Significantly reducing or eliminating median parking outside of permitted hours (particularly overnight) by way of enhanced, targeted enforcement
- Enhancing visibility for all road users by removing parking that currently occurs within intersections
- Improving access for emergency response vehicles by removing the perpendicular parking that currently occurs between medians
The pilot's 16 month duration enabled the SFMTA to monitor, evaluate and modify pilot components as/if needed. The success of the pilot will be evaulated on the following criteria:
- Reduction in incidence of night-time parking on the median
- Elimination of parking on red-curb areas (day-lighting success)
- Elimination of parallel parking between medians
- Emergency response times through the area
- Compliance with posted permitted parking hours
On July 15, 2018, a public hearing was heard to consider making the pilot project permanent with minor revisions. This recommendation was heard at the SFMTA Board in July 2018 and approved