Mayor’s push leads to new bike lanes outside S.F. City Hall
City and transit officials Tuesday celebrated the quick completion of the new curbside bike lanes just outside of San Francisco City Hall.
In May on the steps of City Hall during a Bike to Wherever Day event, Mayor London Breed questioned the city’s top transportation chief Jeffrey Tumlin why there were no protected bike lanes in front of City Hall. Months later, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board approved the Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place Quick-Build Project on Oct. 1, and days later, Public Works crews started construction.
The project included the construction of a buffered, parking-separated bike lane on both sides of the street that connects to existing biking infrastructure north and south of Polk Street. The SFMTA said they removed 10 parking spaces, 13 motorcycle parking and 13 permitted parking spaces. Parking spaces on the east side next to Civic Center Plaza were changed from angled to parallel parking.
At the mid-block crosswalk between City Hall and Civic Center Plaza, crews painted safety zones with delineators surrounding the zones and a travel lane was redacted from two to one in the southbound direction, just north of the mid-block crossing.
“We have got to change the culture of San Francisco. We have got to change the culture by changing the design of our streets and allowing them to be used more efficiently for all modes of transportation and making them safe,” Breed said.
The mayor added that City Hall has a lot of visitors and that many who drive, pull up in front of City Hall without looking for bicyclists.
The SFMTA said there had been 25 reported traffic crashes with injuries in the project area between June 1, 2019 and May 3, 2024. Over half of the crashes reported involved pedestrians or bicyclists.
Some might remember that a City Hall employee was hit and killed by a tour bus in 2014 while in the mid-block crosswalk. Following the death of the employee, traffic lights were installed at the mid-block intersection.
Amanda Eaken, who chairs the SFMTA board, said the city is still not where it should be on traffic safety. The City saw several fatal crashes in September and this month, including in the Marina, Richmond, and most recently in the Cole Valley neighborhood.
“Myself, and I know all of the leaders standing up here today are heartbroken and they are devastated whenever we learn of harm that occurs on our streets to anyone who lives in the city and anyone that visits this city as a result of a traffic crash,” Eaken said.
Claire Amable, director of advocacy for the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, said that quick-build projects can be implemented more quickly without taking years to complete.
“As we know, any loss of life on our streets is unacceptable, and we must move faster to protect people, walking, biking and holding,” Amable said.
