Making this intersection safe for bicyclists and pedestrians
Judge Denies City's Attempt to Remove Bike Lane
After over 200 bicyclists and state and local officials rallied to save the Market & Octavia Bike Lane, we cheered today's decision by Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch to reject the SF Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) proposal to remove a bike lane and protective barrier at the notoriously dangerous Market and Octavia intersection.
In a hearing that lasted over an hour, the court expressed concern that the City did not present sufficient evidence that the MTA's proposed change would have a positive effect on bicycle safety at the troubled spot. The court expressed skepticism that the MTA's "shared lane" proposal (which would have replaced a separated bike lane and safety barrier with a single, regular traffic lane shared by motorists and bicyclists) would improve the situation, citing common occurrences in which bicycles and cars move side by side in shared traffic lanes throughout the city. In addition, the court suggested that the MTA proposal might simply move an existing conflict point a few hundred feet up the street to a new conflict point where cars and bicycles would be forced to merge.
The SFBC acknowledges that the intersection merits legitimate safety improvements, as an unacceptable number of collisions continue to occur there. Bicycling advocates and city leaders are urging implementation of the Planning Department's Upper Market Community Plan, which recommends colored, raised bike lanes and an extension of the concrete safety barrier. 
In the same hearing the court approved the City's request to make minor improvements on existing bike routes, including adding sharrows, or shared lane markings, on streets where they already existed, and some additional markings on existing bike lanes. The SFBC supports these minor requests by the City. But the court denied the City's request for new sharrows on Third Street, a major bike route that has changed significantly since the introduction of light rail transit, and the request for new bike racks at two locations.
The court cited an apparent lack of urgency for these changes, questioning why the City was only now bringing these requests forward, given that the City is close to completing its required Environmental Impact Report (planned for this Spring), at which time the injunction would likely be lifted.
For more details, read our press release or check out our photos and the StreetsBlog SF report.
On January 7, 2009 the Municipal Transportation Authority voted to approve the removal of the barrier and bike lane at this dangerous intersection. The Planning Department had previously proposed creating a raised and painted bike lane and the SFBC wholeheartedly supported this plan (image below).Unfortunately, the city intends to ask Judge Busch to allow the removal of the lane as an 'emergency safety improvement' as an exception to the 2-year old injunction against bike improvements. SFBC staff and members who have been injured at this intersection asked the MTA to abandon this ridiculous idea, but the city has chosen to go ahead with this misguided plan anyway.If you feel strongly about this issue, we urge you to write a letter to the editor to the SF Chronicle and keep checking back here to see what's happening next.
The Planning Department's proposal for Market & Octavia, supported by the SFBC
[a popular myth credits the SFBC with single-handedly blocking the eastbound right turn from Market Street onto the Central Freeway, but it's not so — learn more about the history of the forbidden right turn from this June 2003 Planning Dept. memo]
September, 2008: Keep fighting for a safe Market and Octavia
While Market and Octavia continues to be one of the most dangerous intersections for cyclists in San Francisco, Fiona Ma's AB 23 did not pass this legislative session.
The SFBC will be working closely with state lawmakers in the coming months to reintroduce similar legislation to make Market and Octavia safe for cyclists.
If you would like to be kept up to date on our next actions, email Marc.
March, 2008: Enforcement Cameras for Market and Octavia Go to the State Senate
Take Action! Make a phone call in support of AB 23
Market Octavia continues to be one of the most dangerous intersections for cyclists in San Francisco. The SFBC is working to get Assembly Bill 23, the critical bill which will allow for camera enforcement of cars making the illegal right turn, through the Senate Transportation Committee. While the proposed cameras will catch perpetrators in the act, most importantly, they will also serve as a deterrent by threatening a heavy fine on perpetrators considering the notorious turn. Ironically, cameras can currently be installed at Market/Octavia under state law for red-light runners, but not for the most egregious crime occurring there- the illegal turns which keep injuring cyclists.
We need to make sure our legislators on the Senate Transportation Committee understand how dangerous the intersection is for bikes and pedestrians, and also how AB 23 will be a key step towards preventing the turns that continue to injure cyclists. Please take some time today to call or fax State Senator Leland Yee asking him to support AB 23. Senator Yee represents San Francisco in Sacramento. We are his contituents!
Your message to Senator Yee can be in your own words, but here are some possible talking points:
- I am writing to ask you to support AB 23, the bill that will allow for camera enforcement of automobiles making the illegal right turn at the Market Octavia intersection.
- Despite physical improvements to the intersection, car drivers continue to make the dangerous illegal turn, and cyclists continue to be seriously injured.
- I urge you to support AB 23, which will be a critical step towards preventing the collisions that continue to occur with such disastrous results.
- Thank you for your support of pedestrian and bicycle safety on San Francisco's main street.
- Describe yourself and your experiences at the Market Octavia intersection.
Send a fax to Senator Yee at:
Senator Leland Yee
State Capitol, Room 4048
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-327-2186
Call Senator Yee at: (916) 651-4008.
** UPDATE: AB 23 did not pass during this legislative session and we will be continuing work to fix Market and Octavia in the coming legislative session. Contact Marc.
January, 2008: Enforcement Cameras for Market and Octavia Pass State Assembly
Legislation to improve the dangerous intersection at Market and Octavia, (Assembly Bill 23), passed overwhelmingly Thursday, January 24, at the State Assembly.
December, 2007: New barrier island installed to discourage illegal right turns
Above: the old soft hit posts. Below: the new barrier island
In response to protests by the SFBC, the dangerous Market and Octavia intersection has finally received the attention it's needed.
A brand new barrier island was built last Thursday, replacing the worn out and beat-up soft hit posts installed earlier this year to deter drivers from making the notorious illegal right turn onto Highway 101 — an action that has resulted in a series of horrendous bicycle/automobile collisions. Thanks to Supervisor Bevan Dufty for initiating this change — which the SFBC has been advocating for — and for his continued work to make the intersection safer.
The new barrier island is not the whole remedy for this dangerous intersection, however, and we continue to push for further improvements, such as traffic calming, colored bike lanes and increased law enforcement. Assemblywoman Fiona Ma plans to introduce legislation in January for cameras to be installed at the intersection to automatically cite drivers in the act of making the illegal turn. To sign up for updates on Market/Octavia, email us. Further improvements will need your support in January!
July 2007: Intersection improvement mandated by the Board of Supes
The Octavia Boulevard concept meant to create a safe space for all modes, but the freeway ramp has yet to be tamed.
The Board of Supervisors approved the construction of a raised median to prevent eastbound drivers on Market Street from making illegal right-hand turns onto the Central Freeway onramp at Octavia (SF Examiner story).
Now that the Central Freeway over Market Street has been torn down and replaced with the lovely new Octavia Boulevard and a new Central Freeway ramp, the City has a monster on its main street, and cyclists and pedestrians, even historic Muni streetcars, are getting beat up and terrorized, sometimes badly injured. The heavily-travelled eastbound bike route, heading downtown along Market, has become a perilous journey as it crosses Octavia, as scofflaw motorists ignore the "No Turn" signs and catch cyclists in a lethal "right hook" as they make the forbidden right-hand turn onto the freeway.
When the Board of Supervisors banned the right turn onto the freeway, they urged DPT (now MTA) to use colored bike lane pavement across the freeway to let motorists know "bikes go here".
Even before Octavia Boulevard and the new Central Freeway opened, neighbors, City Planning staff, and advocates for safe transportation predicted that eastbound car traffic zooming from Market Street onto the freeway ramp would endanger pedestrians and bicyclists on the city's most significant street for walking, biking and transit (learn more about the history of the forbidden right turn onto the freeway from this June 2003 Planning Dept. memo). The Board of Supervisors agreed and prohibited right turns from Market onto the freeway ramp, reverting to the original design for the intersection (here's the August 2004 Board of Supervisors resolution banning the turn). This shouldn't be a hardship for drivers, who can enter the freeway from Duboce St. — 2 blocks up Market St. — or from Gough St. — 2 blocks down Market St. And of course, the freeway ramp was always intended to handle cars entering from the newly constructed Octavia Blvd., not from Market St.
Click the image above and watch the free-for-all on Market St as motorists steal the illegal turn and knock down at least one cyclist (thanks, Greg Rodgers and Frank Chan)
Supervisor Bevan Dufty has taken several steps to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists. The SFBC calls on the city to finish making the safety enhancements it should have made even before the freeway ramp opened in September 2005: better signage and markings to help motorists do the right thing, better enforcement (including traffic cameras) to discourage and punish motorists who do the wrong thing, and better pavement treatments to tell everyone that "Bikes Go Here", such as a raised crosswalk/bike lane, colored bike lane pavement, or densely-strung sharrows across the Octavia-Freeway intersection. Read our letter to MTA Chief Nat Ford and learn more about what we think should be done right now to make this intersection safer for everyone who uses it.
A series of sharrows or raised bikeway/walkway could clearly denote the bike lane and deter motorists from making an illegal right turn onto the freeway ramp (click for enlargements).
BeyondChron (3/14/07): When is San Francisco going to join so much of the civilized world in using colored pavement for bike lanes? It's time to get serious about True Green Streets in SF!
For more information, please contact:
Andy Thornley
SFBC Program Director
431-2453 ext.307
andy@sfbike.org
