McAllister changes should speed 5-Fulton

More transit improvements are on their way for the 5-Fulton route and its nearly 20,000 daily riders.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors approved several transit improvements on the McAllister Street portion of Muni’s 5-Fulton route. Also approved were pedestrian and bicycle improvements.

Muni Forward Program Manager Sean Kennedy said Tuesday that he anticipates that the new changes will reduce travel time by 10 percent on McAllister Street between Lyon Street and Van Ness Avenue.

The changes include removing the stop signs on westbound and eastbound of Lyon Street and Steiner Street and placing a traffic circle in those two intersections.

Traffic signals will get added to Broderick and Scott Streets and a transit stop will get removed on Lyon Street. The transit stop on Baker street will get an extension, and a transit bulb will be added on Larkin Street.

Pedestrian improvements include a bulb on McAllister and Laguna and on Fulton and Ashbury streets. A new pedestrian bulb will get added on McAllister and Buchanan streets. The transit agency also plans on adding a bike box on Fillmore Street.

The cost of the project is $5.5 million. Funds will come from the $500 million transportation bond passed last year by voters and from the local sales tax.

Previous improvements on the route have included the launch of the 5R-Fulton in October 2013, which makes limited stops. Since the launch, the transit agency has been able to accommodate two to three thousand more riders, said Kennedy.

He also said that there has been a 40 percent reduction in transit vehicle crashes such as side swaps since implementing a road diet on Fulton Street between Stanyan and Central streets. The transit agency cut down the number of traffic lanes from four to three.

The improvements are part of the transit agency’s comprehensive project Muni Forward, which seeks to make the entire transit system more reliable.