Humps, posts aim to slow Golden Gate Park traffic

Near-term measures to slow down vehicle traffic inside the 1,017-acre Golden Gate Park will soon be arriving.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority Commission approved $580,926 on Tuesday that will go towards installing speed humps, speed tables and raised crosswalks throughout the entire park. Improvements also include striping improvements along John F. Kennedy Drive.

Last year through an executive directive, Mayor Ed Lee called on city officials from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and Recreation and Parks Department to study traffic calming measures and traffic restrictions after bicyclist Heather Miller was fatally struck by a vehicle inside the park last June.

The Golden Gate Park Safety Project will include installing seven speed humps, four speed tables, 10 raised crosswalks and 12 spot treatments such as turn guidance striping, safe-hit posts and new painted crosswalks. There are also planned improvements for the parking-protected bikeway on JFK Drive, according to SFCTA documents.

The plan also includes turning 30th Avenue into a one-way street southbound from Fulton Street to JFK Drive. SFMTA documents said converting that portion of 30th Avenue will address concerns of drivers making a left turn from eastbound JFK Drive onto 30th Avenue and colliding with bicyclists.

Though funding is set aside for the one-way street conversion, Mark Dreger, a senior planner for the SFMTA, said that the transit agency still working with the community and Rec and Park.

SFCTA documents said the traffic calming measures are expected for completion and for use by March 2018.

Commissioner Katy Tang said in the future, she would like staff to focus on pedestrian safety near the entrances of Golden Gate Park:

“There’s a playground at 45th Avenue and Lincoln Way and it’s a pretty dangerous intersection I believe, and so I think we ought to think not just about what’s internally in the park, but also how is it we can get safely into and out of the park as well.”

The commission also allocated $4.9 million to upgrade 14 traffic signals, including at nine intersections that are part of the The City’s high-injury network, and approved $100,000 to study transit access and traffic congestion impacts in District 10 as requested by Supervisor Malia Cohen.

A procedural second reading will occur at the next SFCTA meeting to approve the funding for all of the projects.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.