As Valencia merchants threaten to sue, center bike lane rolls on

The controversial center bike lane pilot project on Valencia Street will continue for now despite outcry from merchants that the bike lane has hurt businesses throughout the project area between 15th and 23rd streets.

Directors on the SFMTA board Tuesday directed staff to continue to work on improvements on the center-running bike lane during the pilot period and to come up with an alternative option that would include a side-running bike lane. Directors said they want to see more data before making any future decision on the fate of the pilot and possibly choosing a different alternative design.

Some merchants on Valencia Street have threatened to sue the city over the bikeway citing that the pilot project negatively impacted businesses. The Valencia Merchants Corridor Association has also sent a letter to the SFMTA asking to undo the pilot project option that they believe caused a drop in revenue. Additionally, the association outlined demands if the agency were to develop and move forward with a side-running bikeway.

Last week, the SFMTA released its three-month evaluation findings of the pilot project, which was implemented in August of last year.

Paul Stanis, the project manager for the Mid-Valencia Bikeway Pilot Project, presented directors with the evaluation report that included data on crashes and double parking before and after the agency installed the center bikeway.

The SFMTA said the goal of the project was to make it safer for bicyclists to bike along the corridor while improving the use of curb space on the corridor for vehicles loading goods and general parking needs.

Stanis said before the pilot project, there were conflicts between vehicles and bicyclists, including side swipes and doorings in the bike lane next to parking spaces and loading zones, adding:

“In the first few months of the pilot project, we have seen that none of those collisions have occurred along the project corridor.”

However, the three-month evaluation report said there 12 collisions between vehicles and bicyclists since the pilot was implemented. Of those 12, six were related to vehicles making an illegal left turn or U-turn. Directors told staff to immediately address the safety issues.

The report also said there had been a 77 percent decrease in vehicles double parking in the project area.

Directors told staff to work simultaneously on a side-running bikeway option that could have “floating parklets”where the parklet would move away from the curb and have the bikeway run between the parklet and in between parking and loading spaces, Stanis said. He noted this has been done on Telegraph Avenue in Oakland.

The alternative design will require more outreach on the Valencia corridor, especially with merchants that have parklets.

In the long term, the SFMTA is working on studies for the Valencia corridor that will take a look at traffic and circulation, public space and curb management. Funding has not been identified for the long-term capital project and will require years to develop.