It’s Time for Action on Valencia
The Valencia quick-build project for a protected center-running bike lane, no left turns, and curb management changes will come before the SFMTA Board of Directors on April 4, 2023
Valencia can be our city’s most vibrant, unique destination for community, small business, nightlife and dining. Now is the time to take action and move toward this vision by approving the pilot and including a demonstration block for a more ambitious long-term design.
The pilot must move quickly and iteratively – if it’s not working, let’s fix it fast. SFMTA must establish clear evaluation criteria for the pilot, share data on safety after 6 months, commit to changing the design if it is not meeting stated safety goals, and ensure we continue rapid progress toward building the future Valencia we all want to see.
This hearing is our chance to take the first step toward that future. Let’s seize this opportunity by demanding real accountability for SFMTA so that we’re assured real safety and continued progress on Valencia Street.
It’s time for action on Valencia
Since last fall’s decisive victory for the JFK Promenade, there is clear public interest in reimagining how we use our streets to build community and put people first. Valencia Street has the potential to build on the momentum of the JFK Promenade to be our city’s most vibrant, unique destination for community, small businesses, nightlife, and dining.
But today, Valencia isn’t safe for people walking and biking. One person has already died this year crossing the street. There have been 347 reported pedestrian or cyclist-involved crashes on Valencia in the past 10 years. In two weeks, we can take the first step to finally addressing these dangers.
After years of delay, the SFMTA Board will at last hold a hearing to approve the Valencia quick-build project on April 4th. It’s time to seize this moment as a first step toward creating the people-first Valencia Street we need. SFMTA’s proposed pilot project includes crucial turn restrictions and curb management efforts that are essential to start the process of building a safer, more vibrant Valencia corridor.
It also includes a protected, center-running bikeway. While we have real concerns about this design, it is a real step forward from today’s unprotected door zone bike lanes. These measures should have been taken long ago, and we call for their approval and immediate installation starting this April.
But this initial step is still too car-centric—it prioritizes through car traffic over safety—and falls far short of our vision for Valencia when it comes to both safety and public space. This hearing should be the beginning of a sustained period of real action toward a thriving, people-first street—not endless studies and arguments over every parking space.
And at the conclusion of the quick-build period, the final design must reflect the community’s strong call to: prioritize safety; prioritize space for the vast majority who visit Valencia by foot, bike, and transit and away from private cars; and create active transportation lanes that are a pleasure to use for people of all ages and abilities.
We can’t wait any longer for safety
Heatmap of the 347 crashes on the Valencia corridor from 2013-2023
SFMTA first committed to completing protected bike lanes on Valencia in 2018. The first version of the project, from Market to 15th St, has been a success. Yet today, in spite of the City’s unequivocal promise to build protected bike lanes on Valencia by the end of 2022, perpetually blocked bike lanes in the door zone from 15th to Cesar Chavez still leave people on bikes unprotected.
The street isn’t safe enough for kids to bike independently or seniors to cross the street without fear. Safety has to be the project’s top priority, and crucial safety improvements must start installation this April; no more broken promises and delays.
The current door zone bike lanes on Valencia are often blocked by loading and delivery vehicles, forcing people on bicycles into traffic lanes.
SFMTA’s project would install a center-running protected bikeway from 15th to 23rd St. The bikeway will be protected with K-71 bollards and 4” rubber mountable curbs, new materials that have not been used in San Francisco before. The proposed project also includes a ban on left turns along the length of Valencia and a comprehensive curb management plan to accommodate loading and deliveries and reduce double-parking.
SFMTA’s proposed street design for Valencia
We’ll be honest that we have real concerns about how the proposed center-running bikeway will work. Will parents feel safe enough to let their kids use the center-running lanes? Will the bikeway be filled with double-parked cars? How will this design affect foot traffic to shops? Will drivers comply with the left-turn restrictions, or will there be dangerous encounters of drivers turning across the bike lane? Where’s the protection south of 23rd St?
SFMTA has a long track record of putting quick-build projects in the ground and not returning to fix them if they aren’t working. That can’t happen here. This hearing must be the first step and not the last word on Valencia.
Holding SFMTA accountable
As advocates, we must hold SFMTA accountable, both to ensure our safety and to make continued progress on Valencia after the project is installed. Here are our asks of SFMTA:
1. The gaps in the proposed design need to be fixed.
The protection must be increased with more bollards and/or higher curbs, so that the average car cannot enter the bikeway. Let’s literally fill these gaps, in the case of the holes left by the excessive gaps between bollards that will invite drivers into the bikeway.
The agency should commit to completing protected bike lanes from 23rd to Cesar Chavez no later than one year after the 15th-23rd St section is installed. Valencia’s wider width in this southern portion provides more than enough space for safety buffers, and so these lanes should use a tried-and-tested side-running parking-protected bike lane design, not more center-running lanes.
2. The SFMTA board should hold a hearing in 6 months for an early assessment of the bike lane’s safety.
If this design isn’t working, we need to be able to come directly to the Board to demand the immediate changes needed to keep us safe, whether that’s the addition of more protection or even a switch to an entirely different bike lane design.
3. The pilot must have clear evaluation criteria
The evaluation criteria must be measurable, objective, transparent, and inclusive of all voices from the neighborhood.
The agency should measure safety for vulnerable road users, community engagement with the projects, commercial vibrancy of the corridor for merchants, public health impacts including air quality and noise pollution.
Here’s our full evaluation proposal for SFMTA. If the evaluation criteria aren’t satisfied, the agency needs to commit to changing the design.
4. We need to see measures taken now to ensure this pilot is only the start and we can continue the momentum toward bolder visions for Valencia.
The NTIP funding provided by Supervisor Ronen should be used to implement demonstration blocks on Valencia during the pilot period that show the potential of bold new designs for the corridor, as an immediate next step toward a future Valencia Promenade or Greenway.
A bigger vision for the future
AI-generated image of a Valencia Greenway, courtesy BetterStreets.ai
AI-generated image of a Valencia Greenway, courtesy BetterStreets.ai
SFMTA has spent too many years thinking too narrowly about how to fit bike lanes onto Valencia with the least inconvenience to motorists. It’s time to think bigger and reimagine Valencia as a destination for people.
We believe the best way to bring the community—including merchants, residents, and community organizations—together to decide the long-term future of Valencia is to use this pilot period to quickly experiment with new kinds of public space so everyone can experience the possibilities for themselves and ensure their needs are met while the city collects data.
Only if everyone has a chance to see and experience firsthand the potential of bold designs for Valencia will city leaders be able to gather feedback and make informed decisions at the end of the pilot period.
Our support of the bikeway project must come with a commitment from SFMTA to use the quick-build pilot period to implement 1-2 demonstration blocks on Valencia that show the potential of bold new designs for the corridor.
Cross-section of a proposed side-running cycle track with one-way traffic on Valencia
Various plans for this demonstration block have been proposed. These include a two-way cycle track with one-way vehicle traffic and Livable City’s initiative for a “better block” community-led placemaking process. The Tenderloin’s Golden Gate Greenway, championed by St. Anthony’s, with green space and an open vehicle lane, is another model that could be piloted on Valencia as well.
The Tenderloin’s proposed Golden Gate Greenway is another model that could be piloted on Valencia
Any future plans for Valencia must take into account the perspectives and needs of residents, merchants, and the broader Mission community and must prioritize the city’s legislatively-mandated Transit First, Vision Zero, and Climate Action policies without compromise.
Yet we must ensure that action—and not endless studies—on Valencia continues. Demonstration block pilots should be time-bound and happen concurrently with the center-running bike lane pilot, to best measure the impact on safety, placemaking and the community of any potential long-term street changes.
Supervisor Hillary Ronen secured funding from the SFCTA on March 14th to move this part of the project forward, and we look forward to working with her office, the community, and SFMTA to ensure that a demonstration block pilot is completed before the end of 2024.
The community has been waiting for years for much-needed protection for people on bikes on Valencia and for the street to work better for everyone, whether they’re neighbors or run businesses or whether they arrive on foot, in cars, or delivery trucks. It’s time to stop talking about Valencia and start taking action.
With these changes and accountability measures, the proposed pilot represents an enormous opportunity to take the first step toward the thriving, people-first space we know Valencia Street can become.
