Vision Zero has come to the corner of 21st and Folsom streets and, with it, the loss of about six parking spaces at the intersection, and the construction of two small traffic islands on both sides of Folsom.
The changes are part of the District 9 Neighborhood Transportation Improvement Program, a plan designed to improve street safety for pedestrians and bicyclists. In addition to the two traffic islands, the plan will install four speed bumps on Folsom between 20th and 22nd streets.
Looking at the intersection, however, it appears that left-hand turns have been the bigger problem. The city reported five collisions in the last four years at 21st and Folsom, three of which involved left turns. Along 21st street, only one intersection saw more collisions: 21st and Potrero Avenue, with six.
At the 10th anniversary ceremony of Vision Zero late last month, Mayor London Breed said she was directing the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to bring such modifications to specific intersections within the next three months. That announcement came only days after a driver in West Portal hit and killed a family of four waiting for a bus.
While the deaths drew charges that Vision Zero wasn’t working, some of the individuals who live and work around the Folsom Street intersection are less than pleased with the new measures.
Carlos Soto, who works at the La Lomita market at the northeast corner of the intersection, said business has slowed since the removal of the parking spaces, and that customers can no longer pop in for a quick purchase. “See that?” he said, as a driver pulled up in their car, slowed down, but then moved on when they noted the red no-parking paint. “That is what I mean,” he said.
Suzanne Korey, who lives in the neighborhood, lamented the loss of the parking spaces. Korey uses her car, in part, to transport her book wagon, a blue four-wheeled cart that she fills with dozens of books she collects from the San Francisco Public Library Rredistribution program and gives to children. Korey, who was profiled last year in the San Francisco Senior Beat, said she has distributed more than 22,000 books over the previous two years.
“They [the city] did this without zero vision and perspective from the people here on the ground,” said Korey.
Stephen Hallenbeck, the owner and wine director of Heirloom Café at the southwest corner of the intersection, said parking has always been a problem.
“I can only assume that this will continue to compound this issue,” he wrote in an email. “It’s difficult to have businesses that require people to visit in-person without making the availability of street parking a priority.”
Just south at 22nd and Folsom streets, there are two bus stops at the intersection where motorists cannot stop. But in front of Isaac’s Market, the curb is painted green — a thumbs-up for a quick stop. That green paint, Korey said, is what La Lomita should have, especially as a new business in the neighborhood.
Another neighbor who did not want to be identified said that he drives, bikes and walks in the area. He doesn’t feel any safer with the recent change, and parking has become more difficult for him and his partner. But, he said, pointing to the Jose Coronado Playground nearby, the improvements might have come about in part because of the number of families who go to the park with their kids.
Whether the changes to the intersection will do the job is an open question. Eliminating parking at the intersection is one of the easier fixes among the grab bag of what are known as quick-builds — changes that can be made fast as San Francisco attempts to wage a war against traffic fatalities. This action also brings San Francisco into compliance with State Bill 413, which forces municipalities to clear parking 20 feet from a marked crosswalk.
Just a couple days after our initial conversation with Soto, he said two cars had already hit the traffic island that is located on the north side of Folsom.
“It’s too narrow. A small car hit it first, and then another one just hit it yesterday,” said Soto.
First I support the traffic calming measures the SFMTA has taken around the city. I wish they would do more, specifically speed bumps on my street, Innes.
But in this case, instead of placing the island in the center of the street, they could have built two smaller raised islands on either side to protect the entrance to the bike lane. This traffic island configuration actually forces cars to maneuver into the bike lane. That’s more dangerous.
Exactly! What they have done here is make pedestrian crossing time LONGER, thus putting pedestrians in greater danger. Backwards. So many things wrong with this.
I don’t love the way the bike lanes were moved for this, but I think it’s an overall win to slow drivers down in this stretch. There’s a lot of speeding through this intersection and anything you can do to make that dicey for drivers is good.
@Sean – It’s not exactly “traffic calming” unless you change the feel of the intersection so that motorists slow down. Tossing an obstruction in the way, like this rectangular island, is the opposite of that. Bulb-out islands expanding sidewalk curbs would qualify, though, as they would make the street more apparently narrow while giving pedestrians less distance to cross.
The other problem with those bulbs is that when you go past them in your car, you end up in the bike lane. I am sure buses are going to cut cyclists off even worse.
@MSB – We already have experience with this sort of treatment on Kirkham, it goes exactly as you describe.
Could you at least interview someone without a car?
@OBSurf – But what insights would they have on the amount of parking, which is the sole measure of human progress and achievement?
I just want to appreciate this comment.
I am so frustrated that these stories alway only feature the voices of small businesses owners who seem to think that their business success is tied to a few parking spaces. I am a local resident, pedestrian and cyclist. We also have a 2 year old and walk around in a stroller. I am terrified by the perpetual reckless driving and speeding and sick and tired of the constant pestering to drivers. I think that we need a lot more measures like this. Your convenience does not top my right to stay alive. And if your business is failing because the city gets rid of a few parking spots, your business model has some bigger problems.
The city needs to find a way to mark its bulb outs so that motorists can see them at night. I’m not sure what their purpose is, other than to subtract space from the much-hated car zones. Drivers can then get in line behind the pedestrians who fall on the badly maintained street and whose claims are settled every week at the BOS meeting,
They put these at several spots in the Richmond and I was at first very skeptical of them. But it actually makes a huge difference. The arc it forces for drivers to make left turns is much safer for pedestrians.
The argument drivers are so unaware of the width of their vehicle they will veer into part of the bike lane is valid, but plastic bollards would mitigate that.
As for the question of parking.. half of what was removed, as noted, was already illegal under state law. The parking in front of the market was not green beforehand, and the idea it was reliably open for customers just driving by to run in is kind of laughable.
It’s a really local place and it needs more foot traffic to survive. That spot is hard on businesses for a variety of reasons. Parking isn’t the problem.
I drive Folsom almost daily and was so confused when they created these islands because the island obstructs the lane and you have to weave around it resulting in going into a bike lane… I already witnessed a car and bike almost get into an accident because of the island. I have decided that Folsom is no longer my go-to when driving through the Mission.
“I have decided that Folsom is no longer my go-to when driving through the Mission.” Honestly… that’s a win.
“It’s too narrow. A small car hit it first and then another one just hit it yesterday,” Ooh, they’re so close to understanding the point. Do you have a quote from them complaining that speed bumps damage cars that speed over them?
Making people in cars drive around to find a parking space adds to traffic, thereby increasing the danger to pedestrians and bicyclists.
But every time a small business in San Francisco shuts down, Jeff Tumlin adds a notch to his belt.
If you actually care about these businesses you want parking meters or at least a green curb. That’s how you get a customer parking in those spots rather than my neighbor’s collection of classic junkers (I live a couple blocks away, not kidding).
lol no, no business will close because six parking spaces were removed to address a deadly problem
There have been pedestrians in this city forever. Where was all of the outrage in the 70s and 80s? People weren’t glued to their phones and watched where they walked. What has changed is people, self-entitled non San Franciscans who move here and bring their small-town mentality with them. Scream and whine loud enough and the city will build you your own bike lane in the middle of a busy street. And the parents riding around in the street with your kids on the bike with you, are you high? I saw this dad with his 2 small kids making a left from Lombard onto Fillmore, I yelled at him and asked him if was crazy.
“Nothing better than a fart. ‘Cept kids falling off bikes maybe. ….I can watch kids falling off bikes all day. I don’t give a sh[o]t about your kid.”
-Wayne, Letterkenny
Yeah, totally. That dead family the old lady ran over at the bus stop were definitely on their phones.
I’m born and raised here and appreciate the efforts to make the city safer for walking and cycling. My family has one car and 4 bikes. A lot of other natives I know also ride their bikes to get around.
You ask “what’s changed?” Some of what’s changed are oversized trucks and SUVs becoming the norm, and drivers using their phones and driving distracted, which has been proven to be as bad as driving drunk.
SFMTA doesn’t seem to get it: They are pushing cars closer to pedestrians and sidewalks and into the bike lanes. Didn’t someone just drive up onto the sidewalk and kill a family recently? The infrastructure itself should enforce safety, much as door locks enforce someone not entering. SFMTA should be required to leave their building unlocked with a sign on the door “please don’t enter” when they are away until their approach to infrastructure changes.
I live near this intersection and I’m happy to see this even if it’s not perfect. Drivers get a vibe from a street: It’s safe to speed or it’s not. You put concrete in their way and they slow down. That’s a net win for pedestrians and cyclists.
I also drive around here and I am deeply puzzled as to how you’d hit this. It’s painted bright yellow!
the word parking appears so many time in the article and reader responses that it appears everyone except the pedestrians and cyclists understand these modifications are about necessary safety measures.
the businesses are attempting to equate the life of a pedestrian or cyclist as an acceptable cost of their business model.
two businesses on both sides of the intersection of ocean avenue and otsego have painted black over the red curbs and parked their cars there. this subverts the daylighting of this intersection for 2 bus lines (29,49) used by both the high school and middle schools 2 blocks away.
these businesses have shown they’re willingness to spit in the face of our vision zero program with no consequences for almost 2 years.
I thought cyclists didn’t want to use Folsom because it is too far away from Valencia for them to travel? Or maybe the city intends to put small merchants on Folsom out of business as well.
Folsom sucks for cycling and crossing the street and this cheap-ass do as little as possible and not really change anything and blame everyone else when it fails modification is typical of SFMTA and the Mayor.
Some people seem to want to remove everyone who is here so they can tear down everything and rebuild higher and denser. Not sure how they expect to run a city with no business and fewer people paying taxes, but, that seems to be the goal. I would ask the businesses why they are closing and not spend any more time or money on surveys. Only the merchants can tell you why they are leaving.
🤮
Catering to the .02% of people
Who decide to use a bike to get around a congested cement jungle is just insane. I’m born, raised, and still live here and watched this city go down the tubes because people
From somewhere else moving here and bringing their ridiculous small town mentality to a big city reality.
Driving is a privilege, not a right.
0.02%? In actuality, about 17% of San Franciscans travel by bicycle to some degree. They have rights to safely use the road as well, and the motorists going 50 down Folsom while playing with their phones had best get used to it.
https://www.sf.gov/information/san-francisco-bicycle-strategy#:~:text=The%20SFMTA%20estimates%20that%20San,a%20year%2C%20according%20to%20AARP.