⏩ Slow Streets:
Pandemic feature may be here to stay in certain S.F. locations
San Francisco traffic officials extend the pandemic program for four of the 31 roads that have been closed to through traffic.
They were hastily implemented at the start of the pandemic as a way to give San Francisco residents more space outdoors to exercise and recreate while social distancing. Now, some of the city’s Slow Streets, which discourage through traffic by automobiles, are poised to have a permanent place in the city’s evolving streetscape.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors approved the first batch of Slow Streets to keep “postpandemic,” kicking off the next phase in the city’s quest to determine which Slow Streets will be here to stay. Unless mandated otherwise, Slow Street designations are supposed to expire 120 days after the end of the city’s
emergency pandemic order.
Of the 31 Slow Streets implemented across San Francisco, the SFMTA board extended four of them: Lake Street in the Richmond District, Golden Gate Avenue in the North of the Panhandle neighborhood, Sanchez Street in Noe Valley and Shotwell Street in the Mission District.
These four Slow Streets were the first to go before the board because they met the agency’s criteria for permanent consideration, according to an SFMTA report. They’re in lowvolume residential corridors; they have strong community support; and data collected by the agency indicates that their permanence won’t cause “significant transportation impacts on adjacent streets,” according to the report.
Once extended by the board, it will take the city about three to four months of community outreach to redesign the Slow Streets, which require another stamp of approval from the board. SFMTA staff already gathered public input on two Slow Streets — Shotwell and Sanchez — and could get the board’s design approval later this month, according to a board presentation.
San Francisco’s Slow Streets use barricades with signage as a way to deter general vehicular traffic from entering the streets. Some span only a couple of blocks. Others, such as the Kirkham Slow Street in the Sunset District, cover the perimeter of entire neighborhoods. There’s also a wide variance in their use. Some Slow Streets are widely used by pedestrians and cyclists, while others are not.
SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin said Tuesday that Slow Streets have been the agency’s “most popular COVID experiment.” Other, more polarizing pandemic experiments include road closures on the Great Highway and portions of Golden Gate Park, and the city is also considering their postpandemic fates.
Like those pandemicera measures, Tuesday’s Slow Streets discussion drew dozens of residents, most of whom voiced support for keeping the four Slow Streets for good. Several Slow Streets have garnered loyal followings during the pandemic from residents who say the road closures on some of these streets have given them a sense of safety.
Some residents remained critical of the road closures, telling the board that they would only worsen congestion on neighboring roads once prepandemic traffic levels return to the city. As with the debates on the Great Highway and carfree John F. Kennedy Drive, some opponents questioned the city’s transparency regarding how its staff decides what to recommend to the SFMTA board.
By moving forward with the four Slow Streets, SFMTA staff said they’re trying to address criticism voiced by many residents: For some Slow Streets, the current designs don’t actually do much to keep through traffic from entering the street.
“I don’t think what we have is enough to divert vehicles,” Slow Streets supporter Lisa Church told the board Tuesday.
The Sanchez and Shotwell Slow Streets will have different designs, and future Slow Streets approved by the SFMTA board, long term, could also get redesigned depending on public feedback, said Shannon Hake, SFMTA’s Slow Streets program manager.
The Mission District’s narrow Shotwell Slow Street, for example, will be redesigned to include leftturn restrictions to try and deter vehicle traffic. The welltrafficked Sanchez Slow Street, on the other hand, will see little changes beyond new wayfinding signs.
The agency’s Board of Directors unanimously approved the four Slow Streets. While some board members acknowledged the divisiveness among residents about the future of roadclosure projects such as Slow Streets, several also described the projects as innovative ways to help improve safety and reduce pedestrian fatalities on San Francisco’s streets.
“The need for this (Slow Streets) network does not go away when the pandemic goes away,” Vice Chair Amanda Eaken said.