Fell and Oak Street along the Panhandle can accommodate
protected bikeways, according to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation
Agency.
The memorandum by Ellen Robinson, an Associate Engineer with MTA,
states that one-way, parking-protected bike lanes could be accommodated on Oak
Street and/or Fell Street, which would involve removing one of the four travel
lanes while maintaining the width of the existing lanes. Because the road feeds
to/from segments with only three traffic lanes, reducing the travel lanes “would
have relatively minor consequences in terms of travel delay and traffic
operations.”
The cost of the project is increased by creating pedestrian
refuge islands and relocating signal poles. With the design proposed,
pedestrians traveling across Fell or Oak Street toward the park would get their
walk signal and cross over to the refuge islands; then they would check for
bikes and cross over to the park when clear. (Because cyclists riding in the
protected bikeway would not stop at the signals, it would not be safe to leave the signals where they are, because they would give
the pedestrians a walk symbol to cross the width of the entire street, including the bikeway.)
Relocating traffic signals costs about $100,000 each. Thus, the low cost
estimate for the project, including relocating the signals, is a total of
$1,600,000.
The report describes a few concerning issues, such as the exact
placement for the bikeway on Oak Street between Stanyan and Shrader (which has
a narrow curb-to curb width, and no parking next to the park); and the high
volume of left-turning cars from Oak onto northbound Masonic Avenue, which
would require a decision between impacting traffic or reducing the quality of
the bikeway. Keeping the bikeway next to the park, and replicate the traffic
signal configuration at Fell/Masonic (where left-turning cars are held for an
arrow), would result in “queues spilling back multiple blocks”; as an
alternative, the design proposes to provide a “weave section” for cyclists to
move to the right of drivers entering the left-turn pocket, which would mean
that cyclists ride between lanes of moving cars for the block from Ashbury to
Masonic.
The report considered the potential for a two-way bicycle facility
along Fell Street, with space from removing parking and a travel lane, but did
not recommend it; disadvantages included the need to control the bikeway with
traffic signals “to facilitate crossing of the protected bike lanes at the six
minor streets 'T' intersections,” which reduces the efficiency and attractiveness
of the bikeway.
 |
| The MTA report includes this image from Prospect Park, Brooklyn, where a bikeway was installed between parking and a park and traffic signals were relocated |
The report notes that the Panhandle multi-use path is a "high demand recreational and utilitarian transportation facility" with 500 bikes and 500 pedestrians per hour at peak times. The North of Panhandle Neighborhood Association
reported the results of its survey on the issue, which found "a 72% positive opinion of reallocating one of the four traffic lanes as a parking protected bike lane."
The cost of the project is increased by creating pedestrian
refuge islands and relocating signal poles. With the design proposed,
pedestrians traveling across Fell or Oak Street toward the park would get their
walk signal and cross over to the refuge islands; then they would check for
bikes and cross over to the park when clear. (Because cyclists riding in the
protected bikeway would not stop at the signals, it would not be safe to leave the signals where they are, because they would give
the pedestrians a walk symbol to cross the width of the entire street, including the bikeway.)
Relocating traffic signals costs about $100,000 each. Thus, the low cost
estimate for the project, including relocating the signals, is a total of
$1,600,000.