Nine new speed humps and a raised crosswalk inside the western portion of Golden Gate Park are now complete.
Nine new speed humps and a raised crosswalk inside the western portion of Golden Gate Park have been installed by San Francisco’s transportation agency and public works crews.
The new speed humps are a near-term solution to curb speeding motorists inside the park and to also meet the demands of Mayor Ed Lee’s directive in August to deliver solutions to reduce speeds on John F. Kennedy Drive in the park.
Lee installed one of the last nine speed humps on Friday with crews from the San Francisco Department of Public Works.
Installing speed humps in #GoldenGate Park to keep our city parks safer for all San Franciscans and our visitors. pic.twitter.com/IAFxEKjhRH
— Mayor Ed Lee (@mayoredlee) November 4, 2016
Despite the rainy weather, work began last week to install the speed humps and a raised crosswalk, said Ed Reiskin, director of transportation for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
Reiskin said earlier this week at the SFMTA’s Board of Directors meeting that motorists driving in the western portion of the park are driving above the 25 mile per hour speed limit:
“Our safety data shows seven to nine miles an hour above the 25 speed limit in the day and it’s even faster at night.”
He added that motorists who drive through the park especially during the commute hours are treating the park like a freeway.
The speed humps are installed west of Transverse Drive and continue west to the Chain of Lakes and near the Great Highway at the edge of Golden Gate Park.
Lee said in a statement that the completion of the speed humps will slow down motorists:
“The completion of the new speed humps will decrease vehicular speeding and help us uphold our commitment to Vision Zero and eliminating all traffic fatalities by 2024.”
Phil Ginsburg, general manager of the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, said in statement:
“With so many opportunities for recreation in our beloved Golden Gate Park, it’s important that all visitors and travelers can walk, bike, drive, and play safely.”
John F. Kennedy Drive is part of The City’s high-injury network where 12 percent of San Francisco’s streets account for 70 percent of The City’s severe and fatal traffic collisions.
In June of this year, a motorist hit and killed Heather Miller of San Francisco in a hit-and-run incident Miller was riding her bike on John F. Kennedy Drive near 30th Avenue.
The SFMTA and Rec and Park are working on a long-term plan to improve the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists inside the park, said Reiskin.
Both the transit agency and the department are inviting the public on Dec. 3 at the San Francisco County Fair Building (1199 9th Avenue) from 10 a.m. to 12 noon to talk with officials on seeking solutions to slow down motorists and to better manage traffic inside the park.
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.
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*whew* for a moment there I thought the city would actually do something crazy like install bike lanes or charge for on-street parking.
“to also meet the demands of Mayor Ed Lee’s directive”. Demands? DEMANDS? Our mayor has been sitting on his hands until the high-profile murder of a cyclist in the Park forced him to act, and he chose the weakest possible solution instead of protected bicycle lanes. I guess that it’s going to take a lot more deaths before cyclists get any safety measures in other parts of the city. TWO blocks of protected lanes at the far end of Valencia after how many years?
“The SFMTA and Rec and Park are working on a long-term plan to improve
the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists inside the park, said Reiskin.” I guess “working” is newspeak for doing nothing. Reiskin is trying to out-BS Paul Rose.
Jerold Chinn, you need to do more research.
“Reiskin said earlier this week at the SFMTA’s Board of Directors meeting that motorists driving in the western portion of the park are driving above the 25 mile per hour speed limit.” So why don’t we drop the speed limit to 20mph, narrow the roadway with a permanent protected bikeway and put speed cameras in the park? Can’t the SFMTA actually be proactive for once? A few humps (not bumps) aren’t going to slow down the worst offenders.
Clearly the answer is: they cannot.