Speak out for a pedestrian-first 5th Street on September 17

The South of Market neighborhood, also known as SoMa, boasts one of the largest senior populations per capita in San Francisco and the highest numbers of seniors with disabilities. Meanwhile these SoMa residents face some of the city’s most dangerous streets.

5th Street is one of the worst; five people on average are injured in crashes on 5th Street every single month. But with your help, we can win big changes to transform 5th Street into a neighborhood street designed for people of all ages who walk, bike, and ride transit.

On September 17th , the 5th Street Improvement project could be approved and move forward – but your voice is needed for this to happen.

Input from Walk SF and members like you has yielded a strong project. Harrowing intersections, where most crashes take place, will receive significant safety improvements that prioritize people walking. These include:

• Alleyways like Tehama and Shipley will see raised crosswalks that slow cars and make people walking more visible.
• New mid-block crossings at streets like Bluxome and Clementina make it possible to cross long blocks.
• Corner sidewalk extensions and transit boarding islands mean less distance to cross at intersections and more space for people walking.
• A protected intersection will give people walking more peace of mind at the hectic Brannan intersection.
• Traffic calming will provide protected bikeways and one fewer traffic lane.

These changes reflect the priorities of the people who live and walk in the neighborhood. We talked to over 200 people at or near 5th Street at four pop-up outreach events. Our surveys from these events showed a whopping 93.9% of responses expressed a desire for safer intersections.

But even though this strong project includes excellent pedestrian safety improvements, we still need to get it over the finish line. That means the SFMTA Board needs to hear your support.

Join Walk SF at the SFMTA Board meeting on Tuesday, September 17 to speak up for the 5th Street Improvement project to be passed and built quickly. There’s no time to waste with making streets safer; we need this project approved this month – and improvements in the ground by the end of the year!

SFMTA Board Hearing
Tuesday, September 17 – 1:00-3:00pm*
City Hall, Room 400, Floor 4
*The meeting agenda with a more specific time for this item will be released Friday, Sept 13th.*

If you can come, please email brian@walksf.org for talking points and so we can look for you at the hearing.

Banner image: SFMTA