San Francisco Considers Banning Cars on Market St.

Via Treehugger

 

The plan would close a "2.3-mile portion of Market Street" and "would open the often-congested roadway to pedestrians and cyclists, though [Superviser] Daly said there would still need to be places where cars and other vehicles could cross." At the same time, there are plans to add bike lanes and improve mass transit, assuring that even if cars aren't banned from the street, significant improvements will be made.

 

What do you San Franciscans think of this plan?  Personally whenever I'm in SF, I try to avoid Market St. like the plague.  I hate driving on that street with the massive traffic and crazy intersections.  So this plan sounds great to me.

That's definitely interesting.  I live about 2 blocks from that section of Market and I definitely avoid it at all costs.  So few locals drive on it as is, it's mostly taxis picking up tourists.

 

If the buses are going to continue to run up and down it, I think the benefit would be pretty limited (because there are so many).  But if they limit it to the street cars, I think it'd be great.  How to deal with the traffic that has to cross Market would be a challenge though.  Maybe they'd only allow it at some intersections?

 

Putting in specific bike lanes on Market is obvious and needed.  Why that hasn't been done already is a mystery.

Whoa!?! I too live only a block from Market and it's definitely a zoo, but agree that the benefits wouldn't be all that significant as a biker/pedestrian. There are a LOT of buses on that road, so you'd still need to have timed cross walks and the ability for cars to get across because it cuts the city in half.

 

It would definitely be a bit more pleasant, but I think it might cause more trouble than it's actually worth by congesting other areas, etc. Interesting idea though...

I hate and love Market Street. I can't see Market St. without any cars - it'll be too weird! I think what makes SF DT, DOWNTOWN is Union Square and Market Street! If you take the cars out, it'll be taking a part of SF away. Leave Market St. alone! I like taking the market st.101 home at night during Christmas - its rejuvinating.

 

I wonder what Gavin Newsome will say.

I was just at the Warfield (which is on Market St.) for a concert.  Several times I thought to myself "I'm so glad we parked at the BART station instead of driving all the way".  I can't freaking stand driving on Market.

 

I was also doing a site visit at the Exploratorium a month or two back.  We also had to go to a few local agency offices and ended up getting lost thanks to - you guessed it - Market Street.

 

I've concluded that it's pure evil.

How could the Exploratorium be evil?  I rather like it myself......... :-)

Oh no, the Exploratorium is awesome.  I'd love to be able to spend some time there without all those darned kids getting in the way ;-)

 

Market Street is what I was referring to as evil.  Completely evil!

I know, but it was so easy to keep a straight face online; I just could not resist!

 agreed, market street is pretty terrible as far as driving is concerned.  i'd actually be pumped if they turned it into a biking/pedestrian-only zone.

 

in addition to improving traffic/noise, i also think that said changes would encourage people to spend more time wandering along market street and thus encourage renovations to make it more of a promenade feel (think santa monica-style, although that would be a long way off).  i'm thinking specifically of the portion of market street (between union square and the castro)  that is pretty dingy and could use a face lift...maybe these kinds of changes would help speed that along.

 

one downside, though -- the traffic usually on market would be diverted to side streets and thus make people who live on those side streets have to deal with more traffic.  however, if sf will simultaneously do stuff to bolster mass transit and bike lanes, maybe that will offset otherwise diverted traffic.

I think if they were going to change Market St., it'd be great if they continued to allow public transport (i.e. buses and light rail cars) to continue to use the street in addition to bicycles and foot traffic.  That way, it'd still be pretty handicap accessible and for those of us who have to take the street on for the daily work commute...it'd still be do-able.

 

In the summer/September, San Francisco closed down a big section of the Embarcadero for some kind of family fun/outdoor event (basically to encourage people getting outside and moving around).  Everything was free and it was all pedestrian/bike/roller blade friendly.  It'd be nice if they did that more often too (maybe even just one Sundays, the way Golden Gate Park blocks off all the streets to car traffic).

I think this is a great idea. I'd leave the old historic streetcars in, like the "F" Market, but I'd be happy not to see so many cars ANYwhere.

 Well, just a little update on this story...it would seem that restrictions have indeed been placed on Market St.  On Tuesday of this week, a trial program began to keep eastbound traffic off the street.  Bus, taxis, delivery vehicles, emergency vehicles, and bicycles can still travel east on Market; cars going westbound can as well.  But everyone driving toward the Ferry Building is getting diverted down other streets when approaching downtown San Francisco.

I actually haven't really noticed the difference over the last few days, I'm ashamed to say.  That's even worse now that our office is right on Market Street!  I'm inclined to go over to the window and look....

The program is being evaluated over the next 6 weeks to see if they think it's effective.

 It's already so hard to drive on Market St. that I really don't think this is such a big deal...provided you can still CROSS...That's the real issue, just getting East-West...hopefully this will make it easier, not harder!