Sanchez Slow Street
The Sanchez Slow Street is an effort to improve safety and support active transportation on this corridor, which spans the Noe Valley commercial corridor of 24th Street and connects community destinations like the Upper Noe Recreation Center and Noe Cafe. Sanchez Street was initially designated as a COVID-19 Response Slow Street in June 2020, and approved by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board as a post-pandemic Slow Street in August 2021. On December 6, 2022, the SFMTA Board affirmed Sanchez Street’s inclusion in the ongoing Slow Streets program.
While a Slow Street design has already been implemented on Sanchez Street, the project team is conducting further data collection and evaluation on the corridor to ensure that it is meeting Slow Streets program criteria:
- Vehicle speeds at or below 15 mph
- Vehicle volumes less than 1,000 per day
Following this evaluation, the program team will determine if refinements need to be made to the design. Please sign up for updates via the righthand side of this page to learn more.
Learn more about the Slow Streets program
Questions? Feedback? Email SlowStreets@SFMTA.com and include "Sanchez Street" in the subject line.
Background
Sanchez Street was initially introduced as a Slow Street during the pandemic response phase of the program in 2020. Following a program-wide outreach process to measure the effectiveness of COVID-19 Response Slow Streets in 2021, Sanchez Street proved to have high rates of use, and vehicle speeds and volumes that met criteria for a low-stress street. Based on the outcome of that evaluation, the SFMTA Slow Streets team recommended that Sanchez Street—along with Golden Gate Avenue, Shotwell Street, and Lake Street—be made post-pandemic Slow Streets by SFMTA Board. The Board approved the recommendation, and outreach to develop a more robust design for Sanchez Street began in the Summer of 2021. This phase of outreach included a survey, a virtual open house, and numerous community meetings. As of the Fall of 2022, the design was substantially implemented.
In December 2022, the SFMTA Slow Streets team brought a plan for an ongoing Slow Streets Program to the SFMTA Board for approval. Because this represented the creation of a new program for the City, it was necessary to re-authorize the four previously-approved “post-pandemic” Slow Streets as part of the new Slow Streets Program. On December 6, 2022, the ongoing Slow Streets Program for San Francisco was approved, and Sanchez Street was among the 16 initial corridors included in the Program. The ongoing Slow Streets Program establishes a set of data-driven criteria for measuring the success of Slow Streets, and includes an expanded design toolkit for implementing Slow Streets. The Slow Streets Program team will be evaluating Sanchez Street to determine if the previously-implemented design needs to be refined to meet the new Program criteria for vehicle volumes and speeds following the approval of the permanent program.
Sanchez Slow Street Evaluation
In Progress. To receive Project updates, please sign up via the link on the righthand side of this page.
Sanchez Slow Street Design
This design was approved on September 10, 2021 to calm traffic and lower vehicle volumes using Slow Streets delineator signs, pavement markings, and new continental crosswalks at seven intersections along the project area. View the complete design here.
Next Steps
The SFMTA project team looks forward to continuing to evaluate Sanchez Street to ensure it’s working well as a Slow Street. We will publish the results of the latest evaluation on this page in the near future. Sign up for updates via the link on the righthand side of the page, and email SlowStreets@SFMTA.com with “Sanchez Street” in the subject line with any questions or feedback.
Street Events and Activation
The SFMTA is developing complementary programs for communities to more easily activate, beautify, and host events on their Slow Streets! We will be sharing more on these opportunities in the near future. To receive updates on this, please sign up for Slow Streets Program updates at SFMTA.com/SlowStreets.