Lake Street Next Steps: July 1, 2022

Thank you for participating in the Lake Street Design Virtual Engineering Public Hearing. The multilingual Virtual Engineering Public Hearing was live from June 13, 2022, through June 24, 2022. We received more than 3,500 comments via the online comment form, voicemail, email, and mailed-in forms.  

In August 2021, the SFMTA Board of Directors passed a resolution authorizing Lake Street as a post-pandemic Slow Street and directing staff to conduct public outreach to determine an appropriate Slow Street design for the corridor. Given the volume and divergence of comments received through this process, staff were unable to reach the level of consensus needed to approve traffic diversion changes to Lake Street without further direction from the SFMTA Board of Directors.  

Of the over 3,500 comments received, fewer than 2% expressed full support for the draft design as presented in the Public Hearing. Otherwise, responses were roughly split. Approximately 54% of respondents requested less or no traffic diversion on the corridor, while another 44% of respondents felt that the proposed diverters were insufficient to meet to create a successful Slow Street.  

Staff will prepare a staff report including policy options for Lake Street for SFMTA Board consideration. With recess schedules, the soonest Board action could be taken is likely September 2022.  

Conversely, the proposed stop signs, raised crosswalks and speed cushions received nearly universal support from respondents. Therefore, the SFMTA recommends considering approval of these proposed traffic modifications to help improve traffic safety and reduce vehicle traffic speeds on Lake Street at the next available SFMTA Engineering Public Hearing (including necessary environmental review and determination), with installation following as soon as possible pending approval.  

Thank you again for participating in this process. When available, the SFMTA project team will send updates regarding upcoming approval actions for the proposed stop signs, raised crosswalks, and speed cushions, as well as an implementation schedule, and the upcoming SFMTA Board meeting.