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  | Connecting the City from City Hall to Aquatic Park
Take the SFMTA Polk Street SurveyDid you miss the SFMTA Polk Street Open Houses in April? The SFMTA now has a survey online - please read through the proposals and show your support for safety improvements on Polk Street: Click here to take the survey.Join the SF Bicycle Coalition Polk Street Committee - Tuesday 5/14Come to the the SF Bicycle Coalition's first Polk Street Committee meeting to help bring bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements to Polk Street. We need you to give your input about the current proposals for Polk Street and help us develop and execute a community outreach and advocacy strategy to ensure your safety needs are met on this critical north-south bike route. Come join our first committee meeting on Tuesday May 14, 6-730pm at SF Bicycle Coalition office - 833 Market Street, 10th Floor. Please bring your bikes up to the 10th Floor if you bike here.
The SFMTA completed a Polk Street intercept study and asked how people came to Polk Street and how much they spend. The results reflect what other studies have shown in cities across the county - people who walk, bike, and take the bus spend more money over time than people who drive. In fact 80% of people shopping on Polk Street come by foot, bike or bus - and spend four times as much money per week compared to people who drive to Polk Street. Download the SFMTA's full report here(pdf). About one person walking and one person biking is involved in a collision on Polk Street every single month. The SFMTA has spent a full year gathering community input on proposals to address this safety concern, but plans may have hit a snag last week. Read our story about what happened at the Middle Polk Street Neighborhood Association meeting on March 18 here: Will the SFMTA address Polk Street Safety? Do you want to see smooth pavement, a continuous separated bikeway, greener sidewalks and safer pedestrian crossings on Polk Street? The SFMTA is in the middle of the community planning process and needs to hear that you support the Polk Street Improvement Project. The SF Bicycle Coalition is also urging the city to implement a pilot project demonstrating concepts from the community planning process so everyone can experience how these changes will work. Scroll below for details on the actual proposals (contact Neal@sfbike.org if you have any questions) and send in a support letter today: You can use the text below as a guide, and email to Join Your Neighbors to Improve Polk StreetThe SFMTA hosted two Open Houses in 2012 to gather community input and have presented design options to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety on Polk Street. You can download the SFMTA's presentation here or visit the SFMTA's Polk Street page for more information. There will be additional community meetings in 2013.
Business outreach on Polk Street in 2012 The SF Bicycle Coalition is committed to working with Polk Street neighbors and merchants to improve Polk Street for biking and walking and ensure it thrives as a local commercial corridor. We've gone door-to-door to the over 200 businesses multiple times since 2012 and have passed out fliers promoting the SFMTA's community meetings. In addition we've reached out to business and neighborhood leaders before every community meeting to ensure they are aware of the community process. We recognize there are different viewpoints on how to improve Polk Street and we at the SF Bicycle Coalition want to encourage healthy dialogue among all parties. Please continue to shop and dine at all businesses on Polk Street - we want to see a healthy and thriving business corridor on Polk Street and thank you for doing your part to relieve congestion, free up parking spaces for those who really need it and create a more livable community by shopping and commuting by bicycle. When you shop, please let any Polk Street business owner or worker know about why improved biking and walking on Polk Street matters to you. If you are a member of the SF Bicycle Coalition, please contact Neal@sfbike.org if you have any questions or want to receive direct notification of events like this. Polk Street Update - February 2013For nearly a year, the SF Bicycle Coalition has been working with the city and all the neighborhood groups with an interest in the Polk Street Improvement Project (Lower Polk Neighbors, Middle Polk Neighbors, Polk Street Merchant Association, and Russian Hill Neighbors). We are surprised to see some misinformation about the project and potential impacts to parking being spread. Here are the facts:
Many people do need to park their cars when shopping on Polk Street, but there are many people who bike, walk, and take the bus. There have been numerous crashes on Polk Street and Polk Street is the only north-south routefor the growing number of people biking in the neighborhood. The SF Bicycle Coalition is interested in hearing your thoughts about the options for improving Polk Street. If you live near Polk or ride it often, please contact Neal Patel, Planning Director for the SF Bicycle Coalition (Neal@sfbike.org) for ways you can get involved in improving Polk Street.
Imagery Courtesy of ©WoodsBagot OverviewPolk Street connects thousands of San Franciscans to work, school, the waterfront and thriving commercial corridors from Market Street to the Bay. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has a vision for a street with a separated bikeway, calmed traffic and improved intersections to the street making it safer for the large numbers of people walking and biking to the local businesses, shops and restaurants. VisionThe San Francisco Bicycle Coalition supports dramatic improvements to Polk Street to make biking and walking safer and more comfortable for people of all ages and abilities. We encourage ideas like a separated bikeway to make biking safer and more attractive for people who bike to work everyday and for people who want to bike to the growing number of stores and restaurants on the Polk Corridor. We support shortened crossing distances for people on foot and improved intersections and other pedestrian improvements. And we hope the streetscape invites more people to come to Polk Street and spend more time shopping or dining.Survey of biking on Polk StreetThe SF Bicycle Coalition asked people to fill out a survey about biking on Polk Street and about the rendering shown above. 220 people filled out the survey and here is what they said:Which factors make your bike rides on Polk Street unsafe or uncomfortable, or make you bike less often than you'd like? (top 5 responses below):
When looking at the rendering at the top of this page, which of the following features do you like best? (top 5 responses below):
Information about the 220 survey respondents:
Growth of bicycling on Polk StreetFrom 2006 to 2011 biking on Polk Street has grown dramatically, according to SFMTA bike counts (SFMTA 2011 Bicycle Count Report, pdf). Annual counts indicate a 79% growth in biking at McAllister and Polk Street and a 66% growth at Polk and Sutter.Polk Street as a key connectorPolk Street is an essential north-south connector routes for people biking in San Francisco. Polk Street has been approved by the city as the official bike route, preferred due to topography and transit priority on other parallel streets. Polk Street also connects to the Civic Center BART for many people on bikes and is a key route to access Fort Mason, the Marina and waterfront areas from the central city.Polk Street as a destinationIncreasingly, people are biking and walking on Polk Street to visit the growing number of restaurants, shops, gyms, and bars on this corridor. Polk Street traverses many distinct neighborhoods, all easily accessible by bike from many parts of the city. Businesses continue to request on-street bike corrals, sidewalk bike racks and parklets to meet the demand of more people biking and walking to this area.The SF Bicycle Coalition has been urging the city to repave to improve biking and walking on Polk Street for years and you won't want to miss this opportunity to help make Polk Street safer. Email Neal@sfbike.org if you'd like to be on our Polk Street mailing list and get regular updates about this project. Thanks to Woods-Bagot for their generous work in creating the Polk Street image above. For more information, please contact: Neal Patel
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