Creek Restoration To A Pedestrian Bridge Proposed For Brotherhood Way Project

Moving a thoroughfare to revive a long-buried creek, drastically redesigning streets by eliminating lanes and building a new pedestrian and bicyclist bridge were among some of the bold ideas that officials shared with the Ocean View-Merced Heights-Ingleside community on Tuesday evening.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority planners presented three draft proposals for the Brotherhood Way Safety and Circulation Plan before a crowd of about 20 people at the I.T. Bookman Community Center. The meeting was part of a series this month for collecting feedback on the proposals to inform next steps.

The two-year planning process, which is running about 18 months behind, is meant to come up with a vision for improving safety for all modes of transit on Brotherhood Way, Alemany Boulevard and surrounding streets. The selected proposal could cost anywhere from $25 to $70 million and take four to eight years to implement.

“While every vibrant neighborhood will have a diversity of opinions and priorities, it's worth noting that there seems to be a collective belief that transportation conditions in the neighborhood could be improved,” said David Long, a senior transportation planner with the transportation authority.

Long said the proposals were crafted with three challenges identified by the community in mind: 1) Crossing Brotherhood Way on foot or bicycle, 2) Improving safety at the Alemany-St. Charles Avenue intersection, while slowing traffic on Alemany and 3) Improving safety at the Brotherhood-Alemany intersection.

The three proposals, named Alternative A, B and C, tackle these challenges in different ways.

Alternative A

Alemany Calming and Bike/Ped Bridge

This proposal would erect a bicyclist and pedestrian bridge over Brotherhood Way and St. Charles Avenue and create a raised intersection at Alemany Boulevard and St. Charles Avenue to implement calming measures along Alemany Boulevard. Brotherhood Way would be reduced from four lanes to two lanes with a separated bike lane and realign a portion of Brotherhood Way near the Alemany Boulevard intersection to form two smaller intersections.

Tradeoffs could be an added 30 seconds to drivers' travel time and Brotherhood Way would remain a barrier to low-stress walking and biking everywhere.

The cost estimate for this plan is $25 million to $30 million and would take four to five years to implement.

Some attendees, such as Merced Extension Triangle Neighborhood Association’s Neil Hunt, said they liked the raised intersection over the roundabout presented in other alternative proposals. Hunt said METNA members did not want a roundabout.

Youth 1st Executive Director Renard Monroe favored the pedestrian bridge despite the expense. He recalled when a colleague of his was hit at the bottom of the hill and nearly died.

“I know the dangers of that intersection right there, so for me, it's a personal thing because she was never able to return to work,” Monroe said.

Monroe also said he wished District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen and District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar, both of whom oversee the SFCTA, were at the meeting because the proposals were so significant. Both supervisors sent legislative aides to the meeting.

Alternative B

Alemany & Brotherhood Calming

This proposal would add a roundabout at Alemany Boulevard and St. Charles Avenue and reduce Brotherhood Way from four lanes to two with a separated bike lane. It would also use a minor relocation to create two smaller intersections at Brotherhood Way and Alemany.

Tradeoffs would include a 30-second added travel time for drivers. 

The cost estimate for this plan is $25 million to $30 million and would take four to five years to implement. 

Brotherhood Way would be realigned to add space to the existing open space near the Alemany Boulevard intersection. Some participants said that they liked the idea of more open space, especially if it would move traffic efficiently and at reasonable speeds.

“It’s interesting,” SF New Deal Partner Success Manager Paul Barrera said. “I'm mostly here to see how things may or may not impact the businesses on Broad Street. I'm curious about the open space specifically because I feel like that, and the connectivity of the different neighborhoods, especially pedestrian traffic, I feel like those things would maybe support the small businesses the most.”

Other changes included pedestrian signals along Brotherhood Way, which participants said they liked, as it would be inexpensive and quick to implement. 

TheWhile some liked the pedestrian bridge since it would provide access to small businesses in the area, others had concerns about the cost and a fear that it wouldn’t be built.

Alternative C

Major Relocation of Brotherhood Way

This proposal would add a bicycle and pedestrian bridge over Brotherhood Way and St. Charles Avenue and include a compact roundabout at Alemany Boulevard and St. Charles Avenue. Alemany Boulevard would be resigned as a calmed neighborhood street. It would also relocate Brotherhood Way to the south to increase the existing open space and bring Stanley Creek to the surface. 

Tradeoffs include longer travel times for drivers at up to two minutes during peak periods.

The cost estimate for this plan is between $40 million to $70 million and will take five to eight years to complete.

This proposal meets the project’s goals, including prioritizing safety, improving connectivity, focusing on climate resilience and creating low-stress walking and biking access, according to the transportation authority.

Feedback for the proposal was mixed, with some enjoying elements from all three alternatives and a few wanted to see Stanley Creek included in the other proposals. Others expressed concern with emergency vehicle access to the open space and wanted to know if there would be room for the new Ocean View Library.

“Alternative C actually checks the most boxes. It aligns with my priorities, as a parks and [bicyclist and pedestrian] safety person,” Friends of OMI Mini Parks-We Are OMI Founder Johanna Lopez Miyaki said. “I hope that they think about this as an opportunity to really turn around the profile of this neighborhood. Everybody wins, your house value goes up, like all kinds of amazing things can happen.”

Laura Padilla, a director with the YMCA who was leaning toward Alternative B, and consultant Angelique Mahan, who was leaning toward Alternative A, felt that Alternative C was an insult to the community. Though Padilla said residents have been asking for measures to maintain the green space, resurfacing the creek was not one of them. She was left with more questions on a maintenance plan and environmental studies that answers, she said.

“There’s just fluff for what we’re really trying to solve as a community, which is safety in a timeline that makes sense,” Padilla said.

Temporary safety improvements for to the area may come as soon as early next year once the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency begins executing the Brotherhood-Alemary Quick-Build project.

“I understand that the quick-build program brings a certain reaction out of people, and I want to say that this project that we're doing is something we're doing because we've heard so much about those dang crosswalks across Brotherhood, Alemany and Sagamore. They're scary,” SFMTA Planner Elliot Goldrich said. “This is for the people we've been listening to. We want to try to regain your trust.”

Next steps include another outreach round with two refined alternatives before having a final town hall and going to the transportation board for adoption. An online survey for community members is available for the community to provide feedback on the three proposals.

"Working with this community has been a pleasure, in part because there are so many people who dearly care so much about the place and about making it better,” Long said.