Hyde Street Quick-Build
Every street in the Tenderloin is part of San Francisco’s Vision Zero High Injury Network (HIN), the 13% of city streets that account for more than 75% of severe and fatal injuries. Over the past three years the SFMTA has implemented several traffic safety improvements across the Tenderloin neighborhood, including pedestrian scrambles, signal retiming, speed limit reduction, and several quick-build projects. These accomplishments stemmed from the community’s advocacy and demand for increased investment and broader solutions for traffic safety in the Tenderloin neighborhood.
Since 2019, a total of four quick build projects have been completed in the Tenderloin, including Taylor Street, Leavenworth Street, Golden Gate Avenue, and Jones Street (COVID to Quick-Build Project). The Hyde Street Quick-Build project will build off of these previous quick build projects. Feedback received from previous community planning efforts will be used as a foundation to neighborhood engagement, including how mobility and safety can be improved along the corridor.
What is a Quick-Build project?Quick-build projects are adjustable and reversible traffic safety improvements that can be installed relatively quickly. Unlike major capital projects that may take years to plan, design, bid and construct, quick-build projects are buildable within months and are intended to be evaluated and reviewed within 24 months of construction.
Typical quick-build improvements can include:
- Road diet (i.e., remove one or two travel lanes)
- Paint, traffic delineators, and street signs
- Parking and loading adjustments
- Traffic signal timing
- Transit boarding islands
Project Outreach
Currently, the project is in the initial outreach phase. Project staff plan to host community outreach events, in-person, and virtual workshops, and connect with community members along Hyde Street and beyond to better understand mobility and safety needs. These outreach efforts will be in partnership with the Tenderloin People’s Congress, TLCBD’s Safe Passage program, and Code TL. After this initial outreach phase, SFMTA will present design proposals to the community to determine preferred design. Prior to implementation, this project will need to go through a City approval process, including a public hearing, and possibly Board approval.
COVID-19 Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, safety challenges were further exacerbated in the neighborhood showing an increasing need for traffic safety improvements. To respond to these challenges, the SFMTA initiated the Tenderloin COVID Emergency Streets program in 2020 and 2021. This program was designed to expand walking space, enabling physical distancing by using temporary street closures to support small businesses & neighborhood services. This response work was implemented across the Tenderloin (i.e., Jones Street, Turk Street, Larkin Street, the 100 block of Golden Gate Avenue, and the 300 block of Ellis Street). These response efforts showed markable improvements for those walking and traveling by car. The SFMTA has taken additional actions along these corridors, using the quick-build program to re-affirm the City’s commitment to making the Tenderloin community safer for the most vulnerable road users
In addition to the Tenderloin COVID Emergency Streets program, SFMTA also completed neighborhood wide traffic safety improvements during the height of the pandemic. Building on past comprehensive neighborhood-wide efforts in the Tenderloin, including daylighting and signal retiming, the City reduced the neighborhood speed limit from 25 miles to 20 miles per hour and implemented “no turn on red” regulations. Studies show that lowering speeds greatly improves a pedestrian’s chance of survival in the event of a collision. The Tenderloin was the first neighborhood in San Francisco to have widespread speed reductions. Tenderloin No Turn on Red Evaluation Summary