Two-Way Fell Street is a Reality

I may be a few days late in noticing it, but the paint has now been applied and the block of Fell Street between Van Ness and Franklin is now two-way!  Restoration of this block to two-way flow was planned as part of the restoration of Hayes to two-way, helping to undo one more bad legacy of the old Central Freeway spur.

The Middle of the Road

When Jim Hightower says, "There's Nothing in the Middle of the Road but Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos," he's talking about centrism in American politics, but I'm instantly reminded of the real-life streets down which we all travel. Armadillos are rare in San Francisco, of course, but yellow stripes are also missing from far too many of our streets.

The city of Minneapolis is about to return two of its downtown streets to two-way traffic after nearly 30 years of one-way flow. Those streets, like many in downtowns across the country, were converted to one-way couplets by auto-centric traffic engineers in the middle of the last century.

Their goal was to squeeze more cars through older, narrow streets as fast as they could. And that's exactly what happened. The problem is that the fast, thick traffic along these one-way streets has proven to be dangerous to vulnerable road users, especially pedestrians, and has often pushed away much of the street life.

Charleston Reports Improvement After Restoring Two-Way Traffic

The Charleston Post and Courier reports that the quality of life on a couple of streets that were converted from one-way expressways to two-way streets has improved.

[Mayor Joe] Riley said he doesn't feel any sense of delay driving down Beaufain or Wentworth streets these days —streets the city changed to two-way traffic a few years ago. "Actually, it (going a little slower) is more pleasant because you don't have to worry about someone passing you and them mentally thinking they are on some big arterial highway," he said. -The Post and Courier

The city of Charleston is expanding on that success by moving forward to convert two busier streets to two-way traffic this fall.

During the past 15 years, City Hall has favored those who live and work on a street over those who simply drive along it. -The Post and Courier

The SFMTA should take note. The Northeast corner of San Francisco lives and work under the burden of one-way streets that are the most dangerous in the city. In my opinion there isn't a single one that couldn't benefit from a yellow stripe down the middle.

Go To the Geary BRT Meeting Next Thursday!

Streetsblog SF commenter "chinagirl" alerts us to the next Citizens Advisory meeting for Geary BRT on Thursday, February 26 at 6 pm at the Transit Authority's HQ, 100 Van Ness Floor 26.

A second critical item that may come up is considering making Geary a two-way street downtown, reverting to the pre-1970 layout with 2-way Geary and Sutter Streets --chinagirl

Since this increases transit access, improves the corridor, and makes a one-way speedway back into a two way street, I say get out there and make it happen! Chinagirl says

Please come to the Geary BRT meeting next Thursday to show support for the TA and encourage their talented staff to create a true Great Street, from Market to the Ocean, one that will be a pleasure for bus riders, bicyclists and pedestrians.

Word.