Long-simmering plans to improve Brotherhood Way and side streets were presented Monday evening to the public.
The San Francisco County Transportation Authority, along with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, shared revised proposals for traffic calming and pedestrian safety improvements with about two dozen community members at the Immanuel Myanmar Church.
“I want to make sure that any investment that the city is bringing into our neighborhood uplifts residents' concerns … [and] that we are collectively coming up with a plan that really serves the neighborhood,” said District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen, who also oversees the transportation authority as a board member.
The meeting was designed to collect a third round of feedback on the Brotherhood Way Safety and Circulation Plan’s three proposals. The last version of the plan offered a bold vision, called Alternative C, that would relocate a stretch of street to free up land beside a green space to surface a buried creek.
Anne Marie Kristoff
David Long, a senior planner with the transportation authority, presented a refined version of Alternative A, which focuses on calming traffic on Alemany Boulevard along with a bike and pedestrian bridge, and would cost $25 – $30 million. The revision calls for three phases to implement elements like pedestrian signals and bridge crossings, sharrows and other traffic-calming initiatives.
“We heard a strong interest in safer crossings and calmer traffic, especially at key intersections, and that's been a really consistent theme of feedback throughout the life of this project,” Long said. “That round we also heard a lot of desire for improvements that are quick to implement and lower cost. Alongside that desire for near-term implementable improvements, we also heard enthusiasm for bigger, longer-range ideas, especially those that improve the green space or a day-lit standard creek.”
Long said it became clear to the transportation authority staff that the community was generally interested in slowing down vehicles, but many were nervous about introducing unmanageable vehicle queuing or gridlock-like conditions.
Alternative A’s first phase, called Phase Zero, is a partnership with the SFMTA to install quick-build projects at the Brotherhood Way-Alemany Boulevard-Sagamore Street intersection, and add k-rails or concrete barriers for people biking and walking. This would be paid for with funding that is already available and would be done within 18 months of the plan being adopted.
Phase One includes reconfiguring and signalizing the Brotherhood Way-Alemany Boulevard-Sagamore Street intersection to create two smaller and safer intersections, a new pedestrian signal at the dog park, a raised crosswalk at Alemany Boulevard and St. Charles Avenue, access improvements to Daly City BART station, and implementing automated speed enforcement cameras for Brotherhood Way and Alemany Boulevard, pending new state legislation. These projects would take between two and six years to complete once the plan is adopted.
Phase Two detailed the creation of a new pedestrian bridge over Brotherhood Way and St. Charles Avenue, reducing the number of lanes along Alemany to one on each side with separated bike lanes, and raising and separating bike lanes on Brotherhood Way. Also included would be improvements to the Brotherhood Way and Highway 1 ramps with connection upgrades to Lake Merced, which Park Merced developers would pay for. These projects would take six-plus years to complete once the plan is adopted.
Last year, the transportation authority shared three alternatives, which also included implementing a roundabout at Alemany Boulevard and St. Charles Avenue and relocating Brotherhood Way to resurface Stanley Creek to increase the existing open space, among other measures.
The SFCTA and SFMTA's near-term propposals. | Anne Marie Kristoff/Ingleside Light
Though bringing back the creek garnered many positive reactions, Long said, they did not hear a sufficient consensus to recommend it at this time due to questions and concerns regarding the potential relocation of the dog park, the building of the new Ocean View Branch Library and the need for a more detailed land-use plan. Long also said it could be pursued in the future if the community desires.
Following the presentation, attendees were asked to visit four stations to share feedback and place stickers on aspects of each phase that were a priority to them.
Merced Extension Triangle Neighborhood Association President Neil Hunt said his constituents liked the idea of adding a legal left-turn at the Orizaba Avenue-Brotherhood Way-Alemany Boulevard intersection.
“Right now, what people do is they drive down and make an illegal U-turn, so what we want to do is create a situation where that is a safe and legal maneuver to access that because the neighborhood is somewhat bifurcated,” Hunt said.
Though it was one of the highly stickered items, one topic of concern was around the reduction of lanes on Alemany, with some sharing how it could create traffic congestion.
“There's no one who lives in the neighborhood who wants that,” METNA President Emeritus Marc Christensen said. “The businesses don't want it. Extreme Pizza, 7 Leaves Cafe, Subway, H-Mart, you think they want one lane? No, and I'll tell you, it's not going to happen. We're going to fight it.”
Other highly stickered elements included raised sidewalks at busier intersections, pedestrian signals at the dog park, creating a marked crosswalk at St. Charles Avenue and Belle-Niantic Avenue and creating a dedicated bicycle and pedestrian bridge.
Another concern was around cost, with some finding aspects to be too expensive.
Michael A. grew up in Ingleside Heights and said he has nearly been hit by vehicles multiple times near the off-ramps and at the Alemany Boulevard and St. Charles Avenue intersection. He liked the changes he saw in Phase Two, like the Highway 1 ramp improvements, but was shocked by the price and the involvement of Park Merced’s developers.
Phase Zero piqued the interest of attendees since it included items that could be implemented quickly.
“There are things that we can’t solve for with the near-term work, and that’s where the more complicated long-term stuff comes into play, but I think we’re coalescing around some common sense investments that there’s not a lot to dislike about it,” SFMTA’s Casey Hildreth said. “That’s the hope anyway.”
Lynn and Larry Barbaree, who live near the Niantic and Belle avenues intersection on St. Charles Avenue, said they hadn’t thought much about the quick build aspect before the meeting, but after seeing the presentation, their minds changed.
“Having that separated out as a zero phase was a really good idea because you can see, oh, the flashing light went in, the speed limit was reduced for senior zone down on Alemany, so seeing those things, it really does build some support for engaging in future stuff,” Larry Barbaree said.
“And it builds my confidence in the city,” Lynn Barbaree added.
A virtual meeting on the plan is scheduled for April 16.
