At the SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors next Tuesday, crucial safety improvements for the deadly Taylor Street are up for approval. But even if approved, construction wouldn’t begin until 2021. When we’ve already lost two lives within a one-month span in this area, it’s time to accelerate safe streets in the Tenderloin.
This summer, the Tenderloin residents have suffered an unprecedented spike in serious and fatal traffic collisions. Gregory Blackman and Edison Rivera were hit and killed while biking and walking and another pedestrian was critically injured within this tight-knit neighborhood.
Despite this tragic summer, the SFMTA will take several years to even start construction on safety improvements that could have saved Gregory’s life. And it’s not just Taylor; every single street in the Tenderloin is a known high-injury corridor and no future projects are in the works for the area.
In contrast, the popular Howard corridor is on the very same MTA board agenda. If approved, protected bike lanes will be scheduled to be built in a matter of months.This is the type of investment and timeline we need for the Tenderloin where so many vulnerable residents risk their lives every day just getting to where they’re going.
Safer Taylor Street, a large scale road diet to reduce the speed and volume of vehicles that cut through the Tenderloin, will make Taylor safer for all users and prevent future loss of life. We can’t wait until 2021 for that to happen, though. Not only do we want to see this project approved, we want to see it implemented on a near-term, aggressive timeline.
Join us next Tuesday, October 16, as we show up for one of our city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods and push the SFMTA Board of Directors to approve Safer Taylor and fast-track construction so that it is on the ground well before 2021.
SFMTA Board of Directors
Oct. 16, 1:00 PM
City Hall, Room 400
