Transit officials say they are hoping much-needed roadway changes on Lake Merced Boulevard will slow vehicles down and improve safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors Tuesday approved the $1.7 million Lake Merced Quick-Build Project, which includes narrowing traffic lanes, improving crosswalks and installing protected bike lanes on Lake Merced Boulevard between John Muir Drive and Skyline Boulevard.
Elizabeth Chen, a transportation engineer for the SFMTA, said:
“The focus of this project is on slowing down vehicle speeds and improving pedestrian and bicycle connections along Lake Merced Boulevard.”
A total of 324 parking spaces at various locations in the project area will be removed. The parking removal has raised concerns from homeless advocates and those living in their vehicle on Lake Merced Boulevard.
SFMTA staff said they are working with the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, the Coalition on Homelessness and Melgar before removing parking on a stretch of Brotherhood Way to Vidal Drive.
Parking spaces in this section are mostly being used by individuals living in their vehicles and that the parking removal will be “phased” until a safe sleeping site is well underway in District 7.
Homeless advocates spoke during public comment to ensure people living in vehicles along Lake Merced Boulevard are informed when parking changes will happen.
Ian James, organizing director for the Coalition on Homelessness, said:
“I am calling … to really emphasize the people staying here, our families, our people with disabilities, our workers in San Francisco who really care deeply for their community.”
While not on the city’s updated high injury network this year, the portion of Lake Merced Boulevard between Font and Sunset boulevards was previously on the network. The SFMTA staff report said there were a total of 89 collisions and two fatalities in the project area between 2016 and 2021.
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar said at the meeting:
“I have seen while I’ve been a supervisor crashes, injuries. There was even a death on this stretch, and I’m very eager to see it addressed.”
SFMTA Livable Streets Director Jamie Parks said due to the complexity of the project area, there was not a one single solution, but instead different proposed changes for each section of Lake Merced Boulevard.
The agency will install a northbound and southbound protected bikeway from John Muir Drive to Brotherhood Way, which will require the removal of a traffic lane. Raised concrete median islands will protect the bikeway.
In the same section, the SFMTA will install continental crosswalks and limit lines at all intersections.
Middlefield Drive to Sunset Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard to Skyline Drive will have a westbound protected bikeway, the staff report said.
Between Brotherhood Way and Vidal Drive, staff said a shared roadway will carry vehicles and bicyclists in the northbound direction of Vidal Drive starting at 887 feet of Brotherhood Way. This portion of Vidal Drive will be an alternative route for bicyclists as a protected bikeway is not feasible adjacent to Lake Merced Boulevard. The SFMTA will designate this portion of Vidal Drive as a “neoghborway” — a street where traffic calming measures are installed to make it safer for bicyclists and pedestrians.
The project includes installing bike ramps on the west side of Vidal Drive in order for bicyclists to connect back to the protected bikeway on Lake Merced Boulevard.
The SFMTA anticipates to start construction on the project this year in the spring.
