What to Know
- Under the first phase of the project, no private vehicles are allowed to travel along Market Street.
- The second phase of the project will focus on the extension of bus-only lanes.
- The third phase aims to change sections of Ellis and Jones streets to improve safety and vehicle movement.
More than 2 miles of Market Street in downtown San Francisco are now closed to private vehicles as of Wednesday morning, paving the way for safer streets.
On Wednesday morning, city officials celebrated the start of the Better Market Street project, which prioritizes buses, bicyclists and pedestrians along the busy thoroughfare.
"After years of discussion, activism, and planning, 2020 is the year we will truly put people first on Market Street," Mayor London Breed said in a statement.
"Starting today, San Francisco's main civic boulevard will be returned to pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit riders -- making it safer for everyone who uses it and helping us make progress on our Vision Zero and climate goals," Breed said.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's new director of transportation Jeffrey Tumlin, whose been on the job for just over two months, said, "The Market Street project helps us meet two key goals: moving more people by eliminating congestion delay on our most important transit corridor, and improving safety on the street with five of our top-ten, high-injury intersections."
Local
As part the project's first phase, which launched Wednesday, private vehicles, including ride-hailing vehicles like Uber and Lyft, will be prohibited from traveling on Market Street eastbound from 10th to Main streets and westbound from Steuart Street to Van Ness Avenue, although they can still cross Market Street.
Additionally, SFMTA crews have installed signs, created new pedestrian safety zones, added new loading zones and extended Muni-only lanes down Market Street.
Parking control and police officers are on hand directing traffic and helping call attention to the new changes. According to police, officers have been stopping private vehicles all day on Market Street and are issuing just warnings for now.
The second phase of the project is expected to roll out sometime this spring. That phase would see the extension of bus-only lanes east from Third to Main streets. Taxis and non-Muni buses will no longer be allowed in those lanes.
Also, the existing bus/taxi lanes from Third to Ninth streets will become a Muni-only lane. Additionally, bicycle intersection improvements will be made along Market at Eighth, Page, Battery and Valencia streets.
The project's third phase aims to change sections of Ellis and Jones streets near Market to improve safety and vehicle movement. That phase is set to begin in the summer months.
More information about the project can be found at http://bettermarketstreetsf.org.
