Broadway Safety Improvement Project
PROJECT UPDATE: Based on community input, the lane reduction and bike lanes proposed as part of the Broadway Safety Improvement Project are on hold. Safety upgrades including high visibility crosswalk markings and advanced limit lines at intersections will be implemented after completion of the San Francisco Public Works sewer replacement and repaving project, however no changes will be made to existing lane configuration.
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The goal of the Broadway Safety Improvement Project is to improve safety and comfort for all who walk, bike, drive, live or go to school on Broadway between Polk and Steiner streets. This would be achieved through lane reductions where excess capacity exists to calm traffic and create space for pedestrian and bicyclist safety improvements.
COLLISION HISTORY
Between January 2011 and April 2016, there were 73 collisions and 84 total injuries on Broadway in the project area. West of Van Ness, where the bulk of safety improvements are proposed, there were 19 motorist injuries, 5 pedestrian injuries (several involving speeding vehicles), and 1 bicyclist injury. Two of the nine blocks in the project area, from Polk to Franklin streets, are on the city’s High-Injury Network, which are the 13 percent of city streets that account for 75 percent of San Francisco’s traffic related injuries and fatalities. The Broadway Safety Improvement Project supports San Francisco’s Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic deaths by 2024.
PROJECT ELEMENTS
- Traffic lane reductions: Traffic volumes on Broadway drop by more than 70% in the AM and PM peak hours from Polk Street to Fillmore Street. The project would reconfigure the street to align street design and capacity with surrounding land uses, calming traffic.
- Intersection safety improvements: Where feasible, elements including daylighting, advanced limit lines, pedestrian median islands, high-visibility crosswalks, and leading pedestrian intervals at signals would improve pedestrian safety and comfort at intersections in the project area.
- Bicycle lanes: Broadway is part of the San Francisco Bikeway Network, but currently has no bike facilities west of Polk Street. Bike lanes would be added on most blocks to increase Broadway’s attractiveness as a bike route, and facilitate connections to the network at Steiner Street, Webster Street, and Polk Street.
- Center two-way left turn lane: On blocks where traffic volumes and operations allow, a center two-way left turn lane would allow vehicles to make left turns into driveways and side streets without blocking the travel lane.
- School loading: The project would accommodate existing school loading operations on the corridor by maintaining two westbound lanes west of Laguna Street.