This is a guest post from Sarah Bertram, a longtime Mission Bay resident, member of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, a leader of the Mission Bay School Steering Committee Safe Access Subcommittee, a cyclist and pedestrian, and mother of two.
Mission Bay is a modern city neighborhood in several ways – a dense and diverse neighborhood, with a staggering 6,000+ recently constructed residential units, ~30% or which are at affordable housing rates. People live, work, and play in Mission Bay; a mixed-use neighborhood borne from the master redevelopment plan that the City approved in the late 90s. As the plan’s 30-year mark approaches, only a few projects remain: a handful of public parks, a few more high-density residential buildings, and a public elementary school.
But can a shiny new urban neighborhood really be considered “modern” with such limited bike infrastructure? With only a few dedicated painted bike lanes, Mission Bay’s streets are stuck in the 90s and a far cry from what we know is acceptable today.
As City agencies prepare for families in Mission Bay and its surrounding neighborhoods – Showplace Square, Potrero Hill, Dogpatch, and SoMa – to send kindergarteners to the newly-built public school at 1450 Owens Street some bike and pedestrian safety improvements are, thankfully, being considered and developed.
Mission Bay advocates and SFBike are supporting the SFMTA’s Mission Bay Quick-Build project on Mission Bay Boulevard – near Spark Social and the new public school. The project includes traffic calming and clarifying measures – speed tables and four-way stop signs – on Mission Bay Boulevard. In addition, soft hit posts will be a welcome yet modest upgrade to the bike lanes at an important entrance of the neighborhood: Mission Bay Drive between 7th Street and the traffic circle. Both projects are slated to be completed prior to the August 2026 opening of the school.
Longer-term, the SF County Transportation Authority is working to redesign Mission Bay’s traffic circle so it can be safer for cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicles. This will be a significant upgrade for cyclist safety, and will connect into shared pathways through the Mission Creek Park.
We all know improvements don’t just magically materialize. Mission Bay has a ways to go in developing a safe street network for cyclists. These efforts underway will help us start to close the gap – between the modern buildings in Mission Bay and the outdated, car-centric roads. But ultimately, there’s more to do, and our ability to create positive change for the neighborhood will be powered by a grassroots community working together.
The Mission Bay Quick-Build is slated to go to public hearing in March 2026. If you are interested in advocating for bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements in Mission Bay, click on the button below.
