On September 1st, a proposal for a protected bike lane along 17th Street between Potrero and Mississippi was brought to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Traffic Engineer for approval. With countless supporters calling in to the public hearing, it was clear that local community members and people who bike from all over the city are in favor of this project. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition thanks our local stakeholders and members for coming out and supporting this project throughout the process.
For many people on bikes, especially those who commute, 17th Street is a vital thoroughfare between the Mission District and Mission Bay, yet is still a part of the city’s High Injury Network; a designation for the 13% of our city’s roads that make up 75% of severe and fatal traffic fatalities. Implementation of the 17th Street Quick-Build Project will drastically improve bicycle safety by upgrading existing bike infrastructure to a fully protected lane.
In 2021, after months of campaigning by the local advocacy group Safer 17th, the SFMTA conducted outreach and started developing a plan that balances the needs of local families, business owners, and countless other stakeholders who use this vital corridor.
Your SF Bicycle Coalition is working alongside local community advocates such as Safer17th and the Potrero Neighborhood Association to ensure the success of this safety project. The project has also been endorsed by local employers like UCSF Mission Bay and the United Auto Workers Local 2865 union.
Despite support from so many different stakeholders, local opposition has continued to delay this safety project with requests for more parking along the street. Between these opposition efforts and a drawn-out approval process, this project has taken far too long, and now, two years later, the finish line is finally within sight.
After so much community support at the engineering hearing on September 1st, we were confident this project would be approved and allowed to move toward construction in the coming months but due to regulations surrounding parking changes, there is still one step left until final approval. Though the majority of the project was approved by engineering, a few key parts of the project will be going to the SFMTA board for approval next month.
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