RECENTLY COMPLETED PROJECTS
Here is a sample of some of the projects that were completed in the fiscal year of 2004-2005.

Traffic Circle at Genebern Way and Benton Avenue. Bernal Heights

Benton Ave view BEFORE circle was installed.	Benton Ave view AFTER circle was installed
Genebern Ave view BEFORE circle was installed	Genebern Ave view AFTER circle was installed

The BEFORE photos on the left show the intersection before a traffic circle was installed. The large patch of asphalt may have been encouraging people to speed through the intersection.

The AFTER photos on the right show the intersection after a traffic cricle was installed. The intersection looks smaller now, and the channelization is clearer. This forces drivers to slow down and driver around the circle while going through the intersection. Drivers no longer have a straight shot through the intersection. The circles also helped beautify the neighborhood with new landscaping that helps "green" the area.


Speed humps on Rossi Avenue. Lone Mountain

Before, the street was quite wide which may have encouraged driver to go faster than comfortable. It was made this a good cut-through route.	After two speed humps were installed, drivers had to slow down driving on the street. Cut through is discouraged.

Speed hump on Hoff Street. Mission District

Before, the alley recorded quite a bit of speeding. A new playground was about to open too.	After a speed hump was installed, drivers now had to slow down driving down the street.

Other traffic calming projects done recently include:

1. Speed humps on Lexington Street, Clara Street, Plymouth Avenue, Precita Avenue, Andover Street, Bernal Heights Boulevard, Portola Avenue Frontage Road.

2. Speed cushions on Ellsworth Street and Gilman Avenue.

3. Traffic circles at the intersections of College Avenue/Genebern Way/Justin Drive, Newcomb Avenue/LaSalle Avenue, LaSalle Avenue/Cashmere Street and Cashmere Street/Whitney Young Circle.

4. Traffic islands at the intersections of Jordan Avenue/Geary Boulevard, Mission Street/College Avenue/Crescent Street and Virginia Avenue/Coleridge Avenue.

PILOT PROJECTS

Speed Humps. A speed hump is a raised area in the roadway pavement surface extending transversely across the travel way, with a length of 12 feet in the direction of travel. They provide a vertical deflection of about 3.5 inches tall at its highest point. They have been designed to slow cars without creating the noise or safety issues associated with older speed bumps, which will not be a part of the current traffic calming strategy. The first speed humps were installed on West Clay, Beacon and Cervantes Streets.

22nd, 24th Avenues and West Clay Street. West Clay Park

In West Clay Park, a series of short residential streets in Seacliff, privately-funded speed humps were installed by the City in March 2001. The humps are made from recycled tire rubber.

Cervantes Boulevard. Marina District



A speed hump has been installed as a pilot on Cervantes Boulevard between Fillmore and Beach Streets in the Marina. This location was the former site of a speed table (pictured above). A speed table is designed to slow cars but is meant to be gentler for large vehicles such as fire trucks and buses. The speed table was abandoned in favor of the speed hump as the table did not prove successful in reducing speeds significantly.

Beacon Street. Diamond Heights

Beacon Street facing north, south of Diamond St	Beacon Street facing north, north of Miguel Street

Speed humps were installed in October 2003 on Beacon Street in Diamond Heights to address speeding recorded on the street.

Speed Cushions. A speed cushion is a variant of the speed hump shown above. It is a speed hump with slots cut out in them so that buses can roll through them with minimal vertical deflection. This is to provide better safety for standing passengers who may not be able to stand up if jolted by a speed hump. These are generally only installed on Muni routes in the City.

Crescent Avenue. Bernal Heights

This is one of a series of pilot speed cushions that were installed on Crescent Avenue as part of the pilot area-wide Bernal Heights Traffic Calming Project.

A side view of a speed cushion on Crescent Avenue. Note the slots in the speed cushion that are just wide enough for a bus but not enough for a regular vehicle.	Here, a bus maneuvers over a speed cushion by aligning their wheels through the slots which result in minimal vertical deflection. Standing passengers will feel minimal vertical movement.

Traffic Chicane. A pilot traffic chicane was installed in 2005 on Beacon Street to address further speeding on the street. A traffic chicane is a series of raised islands that force drivers to zig-zag their way through the device. Drivers who would usually have a chance to speed through the street in straight line would now have to slowly zig-zag their way through the series of islands in the street. Chicanes also offer the opportunity to add landscaping to the area.

Beacon Street. Diamond Heights

Beacon Street traffic chicane, looking north. Drivers who had a straight shot through this street segment must now zig-zag through the series of traffic islands to get through.	Beacon Street traffic chicane, looking south. Again, drivers must zig-zag their way through the series of islands. Note the additional trees and landscaping help beautify the area.

This is an overhead view of the Beacon Street traffic chicane. This gives a better view of what drivers face when driving through a chicane. Instead of a straight shot through the street, they must slowly zig-zag their way through the series of islands shown.

Traffic Circle. A traffic circle is a raised island in the middle of an intersection to help better control the right of way through the intersection. It also forces drivers to drive around it so that they cannot drive straight through the intersection. Thus, drivers must slow down to drive around the island. The circle also proves an opportunity to increase landscaping in the neighborhood to help beautify it.

Click here for more information on use of these traffic calming measures.

BERNAL HEIGHTS PILOT AREA-WIDE PROJECT

The Bernal Heights area was chosen as the pilot location for an area-wide traffic calming treatment when the Traffic Calming Program first started. This experience has helped the program learn the residents' needs and what we could and could not do. Check out the newsletters and websites below to see how the first area-wide traffic calming project evolved.

North Bernal Heights

South Bernal Heights