Central Subway Update – Projected to be Open for Service by the End of 2021

Central Subway Update – Projected to be Open for Service by the End of 2021
By

A worker pauses on one of the massive escalators leading down to Rose Pak Chinatown Station's future lobby and fare gate area.

The Central Subway project remains a key priority for the SFMTA, even during the current health crisis. Workers from the contractor and project staff continue to work every day while taking precautions and following best practices for physical distancing.

Important progress was made over the last few months, but there were also challenges resulting in revisions to our target dates for the completion of construction. Heavy construction on stations was scheduled to finish this Summer, but now will continue into the Fall and finish by the end of the year. The date for revenue service when we can welcome our first customers is now the end of 2021.

The opening of the subway will follow an extensive testing period because our number one goal is to open a service that is reliable and safe on day one of operation.

Although construction will continue a little longer into the year than expected, most of the impactful work is behind us. All but one street or sidewalk adjacent to worksite is now open. The remaining closed block of Washington Street in Chinatown will reopen once construction is complete later this year as it is a key access point for materials.

Lastly, we want to share a major project milestone was completed: Finishing an emergency exit for the Chinatown Rose Pak Station on Stockton near Jackson Street. This new exit was a massive endeavor that began in 2015 by excavating down over 95 feet. Once the soil was removed, the equivalent of a 9-story building was constructed underground -- surrounded by reinforced concrete, waterproofed and then capped with a pneumatic roof hatch.

During Construction: Cement casing was built down approximately 200 feet after excavation.

During Construction: Stairs leading up to the surface with the construction fencing that once adorned the corner.

Today after Construction Finished: Competed Emergency Exit at Stockton and Jackson street with the grates closed and locked from the inside.

We know that construction of this vital project is disruptive to the community, so are deeply grateful for everyone’s patience. Once operational, the Central Subway will provide key connections to some of our city’s most densely populated and growing areas -- linking Chinatown, Union Square and SoMa to Mission Bay and the southeastern neighborhoods of San Francisco.

For more project information: SFMTA.com/CentralSubway

Information on our response to the current health crisis including Muni service, parking and more: SFMTA.com/COVID19

Published June 05, 2020 at 05:07PM
https://ift.tt/3f70iQP

Improving The Embarcadero

Improving The Embarcadero
By

Traveling along The Embarcadero can be challenging at peak times. With bicyclists, pedestrians, scooterists and drivers all competing for the same space, conflicts arise regularly. The Embarcadero is also a prominent portion of the Vision Zero High Injury Network, something we would like to change. The community has voiced numerous safety concerns. SFMTA and the Port of San Francisco are listening.

In partnership with the Port of San Francisco, we will begin construction of The Embarcadero Quick Build projects in mid-June. These projects will change the way people travel on the waterfront and mark a pivotal starting point in creating a safer environment for all. Most notably, bicyclists will be able to travel seamlessly into more areas of the City freeing up space for pedestrians on the Prominade.

Quick Build projects can be built and evaluated within months, as opposed to years of planning and design. This allows SFMTA to achieve safety goals in the near-term, while preparing for longer-term capital improvement projects on the Vision Zero High Injury Network.

These projects also allow greater personal distancing by separating transportation methods, which will be critical to combatting COVID-19. These projects will offer sustainable choices as transportation is reimagined and improved throughout the City. Investment in this important infrastructure supports the City's renewal and recovery while promoting public health--SFMTA's top priority.

The Embarcadero Quick Build projects will be built in three key areas: Pier 35, Ferry Terminal, and Rincon Restaurant Zone

The Pier 35 Quick Build between Bay and North Point streets will establish a new protected bikeway to reduce conflicts between bikes and passenger loading activities at the Pier 35 Cruise Terminal. The flexible design will also accommodate the unique loading demands for cruise calls and other large-scale events that are major components of the Pier's maritime activities.

From Mission to Folsom streets, the Ferry Terminal Quick Build will construct a water-side, two-way protected bikeway to improve safety for all users and enhance connections to the ferry terminal from the South of Market (SOMA) neighborhood. This two-way protected bikeway will be a preview of the Embarcadero Enhancement Project's planned safety improvements for the remainder of the corridor.

The Rincon Restaurant Zone Quick Build, from Harrison Street to Folsom Street, will establish a protected bikeway for northbound bicyclists and expand capacity for commercial and passenger loading. The protected bikeway will also reduce potential conflicts between all forms of transportation on the Promenade.

This construction is a great starting point, but The Embarcadero has more work planned. We will continue to partner with the Port of San Francisco and community stakeholders to ensure that The Embarcadero continues to be a vibrant gateway to our world-class City.

What is next?

Construction is currently planned for a period of three months. During this time, construction crews will be repaving roadways, adding new paint to the road and curbs, removing and installing metered parking, and installing pedestrian/bicycle waiting areas and protected bikeways. For more Information, please visit The Embarcadero Quick Build project website.

Published June 05, 2020 at 03:01PM
https://ift.tt/2BxJO5r

As the city gradually reopens, mechanical street sweeping enforcement is set to resume

As the city gradually reopens, mechanical street sweeping enforcement is set to resume
By

Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) today announced that the City will resume enforcement for parking violations related to street sweeping beginning on Monday, June 15.

Mayor Breed had announced on March 17 that SFMTA would not ticket for street sweeping following the Stay Home Order for COVID-19 in order to allow people to stay home without worrying about receiving a parking ticket. While the City had still encouraged people to move their vehicles if they could, street sweeping crews from San Francisco Public Works continue to see a large number of vehicles failing to do so, as many as 18,000 per day. Resuming enforcement for mechanical street sweeping is necessary to ensure that streets remain clean as the City begins to allow more businesses and activities to resume.

“At the beginning of the Stay Home Order we wanted to ensure that people who were sick were able to isolate themselves without needing to leave to move their vehicles,” said Mayor Breed. “Now as we’re reopening, we’ve reached the point where we must resume parking enforcement so that we can clean our streets. We’ll of course continue waiving tickets for people who face issues related to COVID-19.”

“Our agency’s main objective during our COVID-19 response was to promote safety and minimize risk to San Franciscans,” said Jeffrey Tumlin, SFMTA Director of Transportation. “As more businesses open up and more residents return to work, now is the right time to ensure our streets are clean and ready to support economic activity.”

“We certainly understand the needed pause on street cleaning enforcement during the early months of shelter in place, but there have been consequences. Our mechanical sweeping crews have not been able to do as thorough a job cleaning, resulting in more litter and leaves on the streets,” said Acting Public Works Director Alaric Degrafinried. “As the City is slowly starting to reopen, we once again can provide the service San Franciscans expect and deserve.”

Published June 05, 2020 at 02:18PM
https://ift.tt/30jYf7s

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics
By Bradley Dunn

Bicycling moves people around San Francisco using less space per person than when people go by driving. The SFMTA encourages bicycling and makes yearly ridership and trend data public. While Bike-to-Work day has moved to September this year due to the ongoing pandemic, we are excited to share San Francisco’s 2019 citywide bicycling data that we usually release in May.

The SFMTA uses a variety of bicycle infrastructure and data metrics as indicators of a healthy and growing bicycle network. In 2019, the Agency prioritized the development of a robust data management system, improving high-quality bikeway infrastructure to make bicycling less stressful and more appealing, and expanding access to bikeshare services across the city. As in past years, 2019 data is pulled from the SFMTA’s automated bike counters, annual manual count data, operator-provided bikeshare data, and the US Census. Here are some key findings from 2019 bike data:

1. STREETS MADE FOR BIKING: 9 miles of new bikeways were added to the citywide network and 57 intersections were upgraded or added to the citywide bike network.
2. PIECE OF THE PIE: Approximately 22,000, or 4.2% of commute trips by city residents, were bike trips in 2018.
3. AUTOMATED COUNTS: In 2019 our 39 automated counters clocked over 10.8 million bikes - 3.1% more bikes than 2018.
4. MANUAL BIKE COUNTS: In 2019, about 52,000 cyclists were observed at 37 locations during AM and PM peak periods, a 14% increase from 2018.
5. LEARNING TO SHARE: Over 1.8 million trips were made on bikeshare in 2019, with the fleet expanding to 3,000 bikes by the end of the year.
6. BIKE PARKING: 670 bike racks were installed in 2019.
7. MEGA MONTH: August was the busiest month with 1,146,365 bikes counted at 39 counters— 27% greater than the 2019 monthly average.
8. MOST POPULAR BI-DIRECTIONAL COUNTER: Marina Bike Path kept its spot as the most popular bi-directional counter in 2019 with over 1 million cyclists counted at Baker.
9. MOST POPULAR SINGLE-DIRECTION COUNTER Market St Eastbound Totem between 9th and 10th is the most popular single direction counter. Over 680,000 cyclists counted passed it in 2019.

 

A notable change in 2019 includes reprioritizing the locations of our automated counter network. Since 2016, the SFMTA managed over 70 automated counter locations. This extensive network of sensitive technology embedded in the road makes it difficult to maintain and vulnerable to damage partially from normal wear-and-tear as well as on-going construction, weather, and other conditions. Reducing the network down to 39 strategic locations along the city’s bikeway network helps ensure reliable and consistent data with fewer maintenance issues or infrastructure problems. Similarly, we prioritized improving our on-line automated counter data dashboards, with expanded quality assurance processing of incoming data and faster reporting times. Moving forward in 2020, ridership data will be updated monthly Together, these improvements will make our citywide biking data more accessible to the public and help our planning efforts.

While this summary presents data from 2019 alone, looking ahead to 2020, this year’s significant events have already shaped citywide mobility trends. This includes the current shelter-in-place order which has changed daily routines, with new trends emerging from altered travel and traffic patterns. We also saw an increase in bicycling trips on Market Street shortly after the implementation of car-free Better Market Street. The quick-build treatments installed in January 2020 elevated safety and comfort for bicyclists by restricting private automobile through-traffic.

The SFMTA’s bike count summary provides insight into San Francisco’s shifting travel patterns. Releasing this annual data is one way we aim to keep the public informed about our projects and programs. As 2020 data becomes available, we look forward to sharing how our changing world has impacted this important mode of travel.

Published June 02, 2020 at 10:45AM
https://ift.tt/2MmKa1d

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics
By Maia Moran

Bicycling moves people around San Francisco using less space per person than when people go by driving. The SFMTA encourages bicycling and makes yearly ridership and trend data public. While Bike-to-Work day has moved to September this year due to the ongoing pandemic, we are excited to share San Francisco’s 2019 citywide bicycling data that we usually release in May.

The SFMTA uses a variety of bicycle infrastructure and data metrics as indicators of a healthy and growing bicycle network. In 2019, the Agency prioritized the development of a robust data management system, improving high-quality bikeway infrastructure to make bicycling less stressful and more appealing, and expanding access to bikeshare services across the city. As in past years, 2019 data is pulled from the SFMTA’s automated bike counters, annual manual count data, operator-provided bikeshare data, and the US Census. Here are some key findings from 2019 bike data:

1. STREETS MADE FOR BIKING: 9 miles of new bikeways were added to the citywide network and 57 intersections were upgraded or added to the citywide bike network.
2. PIECE OF THE PIE: Approximately 22,000, or 4.2% of commute trips by city residents, were bike trips in 2018.
3. AUTOMATED COUNTS: In 2019 our 39 automated counters clocked over 10.8 million bikes - 3.1% more bikes than 2018.
4. MANUAL BIKE COUNTS: In 2019, about 52,000 cyclists were observed at 37 locations during AM and PM peak periods, a 14% increase from 2018.
5. LEARNING TO SHARE: Over 1.8 million trips were made on bikeshare in 2019, with the fleet expanding to 3,000 bikes by the end of the year.
6. BIKE PARKING: 670 bike racks were installed in 2019.
7. MEGA MONTH: August was the busiest month with 1,146,365 bikes counted at 39 counters— 27% greater than the 2019 monthly average.
8. MOST POPULAR BI-DIRECTIONAL COUNTER: Marina Bike Path kept its spot as the most popular bi-directional counter in 2019 with over 1 million cyclists counted at Baker.
9. MOST POPULAR SINGLE-DIRECTION COUNTER Market St Eastbound Totem between 9th and 10th is the most popular single direction counter. Over 680,000 cyclists counted passed it in 2019.

 

A notable change in 2019 includes reprioritizing the locations of our automated counter network. Since 2016, the SFMTA managed over 70 automated counter locations. This extensive network of sensitive technology embedded in the road makes it difficult to maintain and vulnerable to damage partially from normal wear-and-tear as well as on-going construction, weather, and other conditions. Reducing the network down to 39 strategic locations along the city’s bikeway network helps ensure reliable and consistent data with fewer maintenance issues or infrastructure problems. Similarly, we prioritized improving our on-line automated counter data dashboards, with expanded quality assurance processing of incoming data and faster reporting times. Moving forward in 2020, ridership data will be updated monthly Together, these improvements will make our citywide biking data more accessible to the public and help our planning efforts.

While this summary presents data from 2019 alone, looking ahead to 2020, this year’s significant events have already shaped citywide mobility trends. This includes the current shelter-in-place order which has changed daily routines, with new trends emerging from altered travel and traffic patterns. We also saw an increase in bicycling trips on Market Street shortly after the implementation of car-free Better Market Street. The quick-build treatments installed in January 2020 elevated safety and comfort for bicyclists by restricting private automobile through-traffic.

The SFMTA’s bike count summary provides insight into San Francisco’s shifting travel patterns. Releasing this annual data is one way we aim to keep the public informed about our projects and programs. As 2020 data becomes available, we look forward to sharing how our changing world has impacted this important mode of travel.

Published June 02, 2020 at 10:45AM
https://ift.tt/2MmKa1d

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics

Biking by the Numbers: San Francisco’s 2019 Biking Statistics
By Monica Munowitch

Bicycling moves people around San Francisco using less space per person than when people go by driving. The SFMTA encourages bicycling and makes yearly ridership and trend data public. While Bike-to-Work day has moved to September this year due to the ongoing pandemic, we are excited to share San Francisco’s 2019 citywide bicycling data that we usually release in May.

The SFMTA uses a variety of bicycle infrastructure and data metrics as indicators of a healthy and growing bicycle network. In 2019, the Agency prioritized the development of a robust data management system, improving high-quality bikeway infrastructure to make bicycling less stressful and more appealing, and expanding access to bikeshare services across the city. As in past years, 2019 data is pulled from the SFMTA’s automated bike counters, annual manual count data, operator-provided bikeshare data, and the US Census. Here are some key findings from 2019 bike data:

1. STREETS MADE FOR BIKING: 9 miles of new bikeways were added to the citywide network and 57 intersections were upgraded or added to the citywide bike network.
2. PIECE OF THE PIE: Approximately 22,000, or 4.2% of commute trips by city residents, were bike trips in 2018.
3. AUTOMATED COUNTS: In 2019 our 39 automated counters clocked over 10.8 million bikes - 3.1% more bikes than 2018.
4. MANUAL BIKE COUNTS: In 2019, about 52,000 cyclists were observed at 37 locations during AM and PM peak periods, a 14% increase from 2018.
5. LEARNING TO SHARE: Over 1.8 million trips were made on bikeshare in 2019, with the fleet expanding to 3,000 bikes by the end of the year.
6. BIKE PARKING: 670 bike racks were installed in 2019.
7. MEGA MONTH: August was the busiest month with 1,146,365 bikes counted at 39 counters— 27% greater than the 2019 monthly average.
8. MOST POPULAR BI-DIRECTIONAL COUNTER: Marina Bike Path kept its spot as the most popular bi-directional counter in 2019 with over 1 million cyclists counted at Baker.
9. MOST POPULAR SINGLE-DIRECTION COUNTER Market St Eastbound Totem between 9th and 10th is the most popular single direction counter. Over 680,000 cyclists counted passed it in 2019.

 

A notable change in 2019 includes reprioritizing the locations of our automated counter network. Since 2016, the SFMTA managed over 70 automated counter locations. This extensive network of sensitive technology embedded in the road makes it difficult to maintain and vulnerable to damage partially from normal wear-and-tear as well as on-going construction, weather, and other conditions. Reducing the network down to 39 strategic locations along the city’s bikeway network helps ensure reliable and consistent data with fewer maintenance issues or infrastructure problems. Similarly, we prioritized improving our on-line automated counter data dashboards, with expanded quality assurance processing of incoming data and faster reporting times. Moving forward in 2020, ridership data will be updated monthly Together, these improvements will make our citywide biking data more accessible to the public and help our planning efforts.

While this summary presents data from 2019 alone, looking ahead to 2020, this year’s significant events have already shaped citywide mobility trends. This includes the current shelter-in-place order which has changed daily routines, with new trends emerging from altered travel and traffic patterns. We also saw an increase in bicycling trips on Market Street shortly after the implementation of car-free Better Market Street. The quick-build treatments installed in January 2020 elevated safety and comfort for bicyclists by restricting private automobile through-traffic.

The SFMTA’s bike count summary provides insight into San Francisco’s shifting travel patterns. Releasing this annual data is one way we aim to keep the public informed about our projects and programs. As 2020 data becomes available, we look forward to sharing how our changing world has impacted this important mode of travel.

Published June 02, 2020 at 10:45AM
https://ift.tt/2MmKa1d

Time-lapse Video: The New View at Geary and Steiner

Time-lapse Video: The New View at Geary and Steiner
By Amy Fowler

Watch a time-lapse video of the Steiner bridge being removed

The pedestrian bridge at Geary Boulevard and Steiner Street was removed—mostly without a hitch—over Memorial Day weekend in preparation for safety improvements at the street level planned starting this fall. Despite a minor snag at the beginning of the work, the 58-year-old overpass was safely taken down and the streets reopened a day ahead of schedule. We captured the action with a time-lapse video.

Crews initially had some difficulty dislodging the northern section of the bridge span—the first of three box-girders each weighing over 60,000 pounds. The bridge had been seismically retrofitted in 1996 including the addition of thick steel restraining pipes that proved stubborn. But with the help of a saw, a blowtorch and precision hydraulic hammering, they were able to cut through and lift the northern segment out to be processed off-site. Crews then switched tactics for the remainder of the work and demolished the bridge in place.

There are some smaller tasks remaining over the next few weeks, including demolishing the spiral ramp foundation on the southwest corner, removing a pier foundation in the northwest corner sidewalk and streetlight work.

The bridge removal is part of the Geary Rapid Project, a larger effort to improve transit and safety along the Geary corridor. After utility upgrades are completed, the intersection at Steiner will be transformed again with safety and accessibility improvements for people walking. New sidewalk extensions at intersection corners will shorten crossing distances, and improved crosswalks with larger median refuges will be installed on both sides of the intersection, along with an upgraded traffic signal. The bridge landing areas will also be renovated with new amenities for the adjacent Hamilton Recreation Center and Raymond Kimbell Playground later this year.

Learn more about why the bridge was removed and what’s planned for the future.

Crews cleaning up after removing the Steiner bridge. One nearby resident we spoke with was happy to discover that, with the bridge gone, he now has a view of Sutro Tower.

Published June 02, 2020 at 11:15AM
https://ift.tt/3crAEV1