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Neighbors from the North of Panhandle, Alamo Square, Duboce Triangle, Upper Haight and other neighborhoods have a long history of working with senior, pedestrian and bicycle advocates to transform three blocks of Fell and Oak Streets between Scott and Baker Street into a safer and more livable street. Projects along these three blocks, representing just 15% of the entire Fell and Oak Street area, have gone through numerous community meetings and public hearings with thousands of people participating in the discussion to improve Fell and Oak Street between Scott and Baker. Read below on some of the important milestones and events over the last 17 years. Visit connectingthecity.org/routes/bay-beach to find out how you can participate in current efforts to improve this corridor and contact Neal@sfbike.org if you have any questions.

Neighbors have long sought to improve these three blocks of over 20 on Fell and Oak Street

• July and October 1994: Two public hearings in July and October on a draft of the Comprehensive Bicycle Plan for many projects including a proposal for a bike lane on Fell and Oak Streets between Baker and Scott.
• January 1995: Two more public hearings on the draft of the Comprehensive Bicycle Plan.
• February 1996: Haight Ashbury Neighborhood Council holds public meeting to discuss proposals for traffic calming measures, including removal of a parking lane on Fell and Oak Streets between Scott and Baker to accommodate bike lanes.
• January 1997: Comprehensive Bicycle Plan discussed at Parking and Traffic Commission meeting.
• March 1997: Board of Supervisors passes the Bicycle Plan after public comment period.
• March 30, 1998: Parking and Traffic Commission public hearing on proposals for bikeways on Fell and Oak Streets to connect neighborhoods. The meeting, with 250 attendees, was the best attended of all Bicycle Plan-related meetings held by the Department of Parking and Transportation.
• July 18, 1998: Parking and Traffic Commission holds public hearing on implementation of the Bicycle Plan. The Fell and Oak bikeway projects, which were two of ten proposals considered, did not pass.
• December 1999: Members of the SF Bicycle Coalition, Walk SF, Alamo Square Neighborhood Association, Haight/Divisadero Neighbors and Merchants, Oak/Fillmore Neighborhood Association, Western Addition PAC, North of the Panhandle Neighborhood Association, and Duboce Park Neighborhood Association begin public meetings to advocate for the neighborhoods’ livability. Goals include traffic calming, revitalization, and bike lanes along the Fell and Oak Street corridor.

Seniors and people biking rally for a safer Fell Street (Photo: San Francisco Observer)

• September 25, 2001: Rally organized the Senior Action Network, Walk SF, and the SF Bicycle Coalition advocating for a safer Fell Street at Scott Street. Seniors, bicyclists, and pedestrians came together to rally for safety improvements including adding bike lanes on Fell between Scott and Baker to connect to The Wiggle.
• July 2002: Three-day trial closure of tow-away lane to evaluate a bike lane on Fell between Scott and Baker.
• March 13, 2003: Department of Parking and Traffic and the SF Bicycle Coalition host neighborhood workshop for Haight, Cole Valley, Hayes Valley, Western Addition, Japantown, and Pacific Heights residents to discuss the Bike Plan update.
• August 2003: Bike lane striped on Fell between Scott and Baker for a six-month trial.
• March 12, 2004: Department of Parking and Traffic public hearing after six-month trial of Fell Street bike lanes.
• January 2005: Board of Supervisors unanimously support retaining bike lane on Fell Street.
• May 15, 2009: Public hearing for proposals including a northbound left turn bicycle lane from Scott Street to Fell Street.
• November 19, 2009: SF Municipal Transportation Agency presents eight options for addressing the dangers on Fell at Divisadero at a North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association meeting.
• February 2010: SF Municipal Transportation Agency presents initial proposal of soft-hit posts at Fell/Divisadero intersection to a working group of community members in the area.
• March 18, 2010: SF Municipal Transportation Agency presents new proposal for green bike lane with a left lane reconfiguration on Fell at Divisadero to a working group of interested parties and residents, and at a North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association meeting.
• April 2, 2010: SF Municipal Transportation Agency holds public hearing on Fell at Divisadero plan.

(Photo: Michael Helquist, BIKE NOPA)

• April 30, 2010: SFMTA public hearing, where proposed modifications were presented to accommodate concerns from nearby residents. Four parking spots east of the Arco station would be tow-away zones 7am-7pm instead of 24 hours/day.
• June 2010: SF Bicycle Coalition contacted Fell Street neighbors and citywide stakeholders via door hangers and email with notifications and requests for post-implementation feedback.
• June 29, 2010: Bike lane re-striped on Fell at Divisadero with new left turn only lane configuration for cars turning into Arco gas station and onto Divisadero.

(Photo: Bryan Goebel, Streetsblog)

• July 9, 2010: SF Municipal Transportation Agency distributes fliers on-site to people driving about the new configuration of left turn queue lane into the Arco gas station.
• August 2010: Bike lanes painted green on Fell between Scott and Divisadero.
• February 23, 2011: Mayor Lee comments that he would like to see a physically separated bike lane on Fell Street between Scott and Baker Street.
• March 2011: North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association writes article about proposals for an improved Fell and Oak Street between Scott Street and Stanyan Street as the cover story in their newsletter, encouraging neighbors to submit feedback.
• June 2011: SF Bicycle Coalition volunteers get feedback from business owners on Fell and Oak Street between Scott and Baker Street on proposed options for separated bikeways on Fell and Oak Street.
• July-August 2011: SF Municipal Transportation Agency holds initial public meetings at all neighborhood groups near Fell and Oak Street between Scott and Baker to discuss preliminary ideas for an improved corridor.