Pedestrian Spaces to Become Permanent

Two pedestrian plazas on opposite sides of the country - both of which opened last year as temporary spaces - have taken steps toward permanency recently.

Yesterday Curbed reported via the Castro Courier that the plaza at 17th, Castro, and Market Streets will likely become permanent after a vote by the SFMTA and BOS in May or June. This plaza has been wildly successful since day one, despite being cobbled together from some of the cheapest salvaged and donated materials. The plaza tames what was once a dangerous intersection for pedestrians, but its temporary materials are looking less and less civic after this season's rains.

And from New York we have word that the seven sections of Broadway at Times Square that were closed to provide pedestrian refuges and calm traffic on a trial basis have now officially been deemed a success. "The new Broadway is here to stay," said NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. And apparently work will soon begin on designing a more beautiful plaza to replace the temporary materials used at the crossroads of the world.

Union Square Improvements

Cleaner streets, and more pedestrian-friendly, pedestrian-priority, and pedestrian-only streets are all good things.

Preview the New Showplace/Potrero Hill Plaza

I hope everyone's enjoying their big car-free weekend!

I took a minute to check out the progress on SF's next Pavement to Parks pedestrian plaza at 16th and 8th streets. Work on what the Planning Dept calls 'Showplace Triangle' is ongoing, but one can already get a sense of the final product.

Some pics and descriptions after the jump.

First Look at Mason Street Plaza

It's taken way to long for me to finally get myself over to North Beach to see first hand what life is like there with one tiny block of Mason Street closed. Streetsblog had some great photos of the temporary plaza being installed at the beginning of the month, but I'd never seen it myself.

Similar temporary pedestrian spaces implemented under the city's Pavement to Parks program have been wildly popular in the communities that surround them. But I have to admit I was worried this plaza would become an exception to that experience after a reader left a couple comments indicating the situation in North Beach was bad.

Specifically worrying to me was his assertion

Come by any morning and you'll see a huddle of junkies and alcoholics who have a daily jamboree. -Karl B

Since this plaza was between a surface parking lot and a library, and not directly adjacent to cafes or other businesses that could participate in its upkeep, I was a little concerned that the plaza might be run down after only a month.

So I took Mr. B's advice and went down there this morning. Pics after the jump.

Oh Chuck

Walnut Creek resident Chuck Nevius has one of his typical poorly-researched and poorly-attributed column in today's Chronicle Comical (newspaper columns are not newspaper articles, and columnists are not reporters, Jon Carroll's breaking cat news not withstanding).

This blog cares, however, only because a third of this column is about vocal neighborhood opposition to the Mason Street plaza/horseman-of-the-apocalypse in North Beach. The plaza is formed by a temporary closure of a short block of Mason Street, which is part of a Branch Library Improvement Program project in North Beach.

Showplace/Potrero Ped Plaza Visualized

Streetsblog has the scoop. The Planning Department has released the design for one of the next Pavement to Parks plazas, this one on 16th Street, adjacent to Showplace Square and Potrero Hill:


View Larger Map

Streetsblog doesn't give a date for the opening, but according to the Planning Department's website, both the Showplace Square plaza and the one planned for San Jose and Guerrero Avenues are slated for sometime in September.

North Beach Library Plaza Opens This Weekend

San Francisco will add a new (albeit temporary) pedestrian space to one of its densest neighborhoods tomorrow when a section of Mason Street in North Beach is closed to car traffic. I won't be in town to see its first weekend myself, but I look forward to visiting soon - and taking pictures.

If you can, stop by the new plaza at Mason and Columbus Avenue, in front of the North Beach Branch Library. The space will be open for two months, until September 27th.

July Sunday Streets

Let's none of us ever buy gas again

I hope everyone had fun at Sunday Streets today. This months fete took the same route through the Mission District as last month's. My impression, however, was that the crowd was slightly different. Last time, there seemed to be more people present along the Easter half, down 24th Street. The crowd then seemed to be simply walking/biking/jogging/what-have-you down the street.

This month, the crowd seemed just slightly smaller but more engaged. I noticed an awful lot of roller skaters, and more people with music systems on their bikes or blasting out the apartment windows above the route.

Last month I left right at 2pm, when the street was reopened to cars. This time I waited until the last possible minute to leave the street. It was a little perplexing to hear the cops yelling, 'The street is now open, please get off the street,' or, 'The street is open, look out for yourselves!' After all, aren't they supposed to look out for us?

Tiny Block of Mason Street Set For Temp Closure

The San Francisco Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation (ISCOTT) agreed today to temporarily close a small portion of Mason Street in North beach to cars. The block in question separates Joe DiMaggio Playground from a small triangle of land, on which the SF Public Library wants to build a larger replacement for its current North Beach branch.

Image: Curbed

Those plans include the permanent conversion of that 150-foot length of Mason Street into public open space in order to connect the new library to the playground next door.

Pedestrianism Vol. 5

Pedestrianism Vol. 5 - Sunday Streets on Vimeo. If you didn't watch it in HD, can you be sure you've seen it?

If you weren't able to enjoy San Francisco's third Sunday Streets event - this one through the Mission District - here's your chance to see what you missed. Thousands of people turned out to enjoy the beautiful weather on June 7th. This video traces the length of the route, from Potrero Avenue along 24th to Valencia and down to 19th Street, where it turns West again into Dolores Park.

Even though I filmed this during the last hour of the event, when crowds had thinned just slightly, it's evident that turnout was high. One really gets a sense for how dense the throngs were along 24th Street, which is a vibrant commercial corridor. Pedestrians were represented in higher numbers here than elsewhere along the route; much higher numbers than in previous Sunday Streets.

Along Valencia people spread out in the wider street, and bicyclists drifted happily through the crowd. Kids on training wheels were at home among roller bladers and skateboarders.

By the time I reached Dolores Park the streets were being turned back over to cars, but as you can see at the end of the video, there was still a demand for the space. Many folks have expressed interest in allowing the event to run later in the day. Who knows, maybe it will.

The next Sunday Streets will again wind through the Mission District on July 19th. I'll see you there!

Don't Forget Sunday Streets

This Sunday, June 7th, will be this year's third installment of Sunday Streets. This month's route: the Mission District!

I'm super excited about this route - I predict it will be packed with folks looking to enjoy some breathing room on these typically crowded streets. There are tons of events planned and if the weather holds up the party could overflow into adjacent streets and the three parks connected by the route.

The fun goes from 10am to 2pm this Sunday so don't miss it! Take BART to 24th Street station, the J-Church to Dolores Park, the 9, 12, 27, 48, 33, 53, 14, 49, 26 (while it lasts!) buses and enjoy the neighborhood from a windshieldless perspective.

Preview of the Next Pedestrian Plaza

Burrito Justice has some great links to the plans for the next Pavement to Parks project. The new plaza at San Jose Avenue and Guerrero Street has a couple different options planned, according to the San Jose/Guerrero Neighborhood website.

I'm instinctively hesitant of option #1's plan to "Narrow west-side sidewalk to allow a 14-foot median." Narrow sidewalks are inherently bad for pedestrians and wide medians make cars drive faster, which is also bad for pedestrians. The site does, however, include a good discussion on the differences between the two options.

But both plans include a large amount of reclaimed space where San Jo meets Guerrero at an oblique angle.

Castro Plaza Facebook Group!

Someone has created a Facebook group devoted to the new pedestrian plaza on 17th Street at Castro and Market. Be sure to check it out and add your own commentary and photos. From what I can tell from the photo gallery, the warm weather made the plaza a pretty popular neighborhood amenity in its first weekend:

According to a Wall post from Lynn Valente, there will be three free concerts in the plaza. The first will be July 4 at 1:30 pm. I've added it to the list of Important Dates in the sidebar.

For more information visit peopleinplazas.org

Pedestrian Plazas: Next in Line:

With the successful construction and opening of the Castro pedestrian plaza under their belts, DPW and the "Pavement to Parks" program is already looking ahead to its next projects. Meet the next three plaza locations after the jump

Castro Pedestrian Plaza is Go!

Just caught this photo on Streetsblog SF's Flickr pool.

More than just planters and chairs, the temporary pedestrian plaza at 17th and Market Streets will be (or is now, I should say) defined by yellow paint. Color and texture differences on the asphalt in similar trial plazas in New York - on which this space is modeled - have proven surprisingly successful in delineating the plazas as safe pedestrian space.

Streetsblog reports that the plaza will officially open on Wednesday morning with a press conference with our Spokesmayor. It's on our Important Dates in the sidebar in case you want to attend.

Sunday Streets Recap

I spent Mothers Day with my own mother on Third Street in this year's Bayview Sunday Streets. There may have been fewer people at this event than last month's Embarcadero closure, but not by much. The route was longer and the weather was perfect.

The businesses along Third Street set a very different tone for this month's event than the last. Many merchants offered special promotions or publicity programs, adding a level of engagement that was not so present on the Northern waterfront.

It was also a great excuse to see the construction progress in Mission Bay. The streets still haven't reached a level of connectivity that makes it easy to explore, and the oversize scale of the buildings makes it somewhat overwhelming. But mandates for public art in and around the straight-outta-Santa Clara commercial buildings provide some fun discoveries.

The segment along Dogpatch is layered in history. The old shipyard awaits restoration and redevelopment across from brand new apartments, which are already occupied.

I still don't understand why the route turned off of Third Street ad Islais Creek. The two events last year used this same route, and there were clear problems with the abandoned tracks along Illinois Street. Third is not especially heavily traveled between Islais and Mission creeks, and Illinois is a very wide road. Cars could easily be diverted onto Illinois if the capacity of Third was a concern.

There will be four more Sunday Streets events this year - one per month until September.

F-line Plaza Coming Soon

SFist reports that mid-May is when we can expect the new, temporary pedestrian plaza in the Castro to be open and ready to use. Presumably the short time frame for construction is the result of the JSK-style trial nature of the plaza. All it will take is some planters and granite blocks to close this section of 17th street at Castro/Market to cars, creating the plaza.

Sunday Streets, April 2009

After walking over seven highly enjoyable miles along a street crowded with pedestrians, joggers, bi-, tri- and multi-cyclists (where my unicyclists at?), skateboarders and scooter-ers, parents and children, I'd be shocked if anyone tried to describe Sunday Streets as anything but a huge success.



Running this year's first installment of SF's version of the ciclovia down the Embarcadero from the ballpark to Fisherman's Wharf was a smart move. I heard many people, particularly along the more crowded stretch North of the Ferry Building, remark with pleasant surprise on the event, which they clearly hadn't yet heard of. These folks are in luck - there are five more Sunday Streets events left, one per month until September.

Before leaving my house I was worried that the chilly air would dampen turnout for the event. When I arrived at 3rd and King there was a fairly small crowd entering the closed Northbound lanes from this endpoint. But as I walked along the sun-soaked boulevard toward the Ferry building the crowd grew denser.

It was a bit of a trip to walk lazily in the center of San Francisco's breathtaking waterfront boulevard. One certainly doesn't get many chances to pass under those Canary Island Date Palms, right up against the demonstration runs of the proposed E-Embarcadero line.

By the time I passed under the Bay Bridge (an amazing public space in its own outsized way) the street was full of everything-but-cars. And once I passed the Ferry Building the crowd was noticeably thick with BART riders, tourists and farmers market-goers.

It was remarkable how many kids were out with their parents. Most of these kids were on big wheels, trikes, and tiny bikes with training wheels. These kids were using this new civic resource to learn how to ride their bikes, a rite of passage that cul-de-sac dwellers take for granted.

Once I got to the wharf the crowd of San Franciscans speaking at least three different languages was impressive. I'll let the wharf businesses' receipts speak for themselves, but if I was a business owner I would be thrilled to have such a parade of recreators at my doorstep.

There was the Dolores Park boombox-bike guy (who I learned today through Streetsblog SF is SF Bicycle Coalition Board Member Amandeep Jawa). As he progressed through the route this betricycled pied piper attracted quite a crowd of cyclists behnd him.

There was also the FunCycle, a ring of pedalers who also had a speaker setup complete with disco ball. When I passed them at the Ferry Building on my return trip, they were stopped, singing karaoke-style along with the song that was playing - they tweaked the words to match a Sunday Streets theme (see photo in the slideshow above).

The only downside to the morning came after leaving the closed-off route. As I walked through South Beach/SoMa I encountered three bicyclists on the sidewalk (one per block). I happen to work in the area and I can attest that this is a fairly common occurrence along SoMa's narrow sidewalks. As a pedestrian I recognize the natural alliance between bicyclists and pedestrians, but it's unfortunate that so many (any is too many, IMHO) cyclists choose to alienate the most vulnerable road users by speeding through the only protected pedestrian space.

It was a regrettable ending to an incredibly encouraging day.

The next Sunday Streets event will be through the Bayview neighborhood. The route has yet to be announced, but it will likely follow a similar path to last year's alignment.

With "Friends" Like These...

A group called the "Friends of Mason Street" has formed to protest the potential closure of a tiny block of Mason Street at Columbus Avenue in North Beach


View Larger Map

The section of street above would be converted to open space and the library moved into an expanded facility at the corner, where the weird little triangle island currently sits. In their poorly-formatted web page, the 'Friends' paint a bleak picture:

Imagine over 5,000 additional vehicles pushed onto surrounding streets daily, battling for space with other cars, MUNI buses & cable cars, school buses, neighborhood delivery vehicles, patrons of neighborhood businesses,neighbors and their guests, tourist buses, taxis, bicycles, and pedestrians of every type - from school kids to senior citizens. -Friends of Mason Street

Clearly these 150 feet of asphalt are key to preventing the pedestrian paradise that is North Beach from being overrun by thousands of cars. Oh wait...

Personally, I wonder how the apparently silent majority of North Beach residents who aren't dependent on cars would appreciate the slower traffic and increased open space. If you're interested, you may want to vote in their totally neutrally-worded "Community Survey."