Thanking the workers who make the on-the-street changes happen

On Valentine’s Day, the Walk SF staff took a field trip far from our office in the Mission.

We headed out to Lake Merced Boulevard. This is a street that can feel like a freeway, despite having a multi-use recreational trail along it used by so many students, seniors, and families.

In fact, Walk SF has done speed surveys on Lake Merced Boulevard and measured many drivers going speeds of more than 50 MPH. Dangerous speeds are a big part of why Lake Merced Boulevard has so many traffic crashes that it’s a designated ‘high-injury’ street.

But on Valentine’s Day, SFMTA workers were busy finishing safety improvements on Lake Merced Boulevard – and we went to thank them for their work here and on streets all over the city.

That’s because the staff of the SFMTA Paint Shop and the SFMTA Sign Shop are some of the unsung heroes making our streets safer.

These hardworking people paint and install many of the simple, lifesaving solutions that protect us. Things like high-visibility continental crosswalks, pedestrian safety zones, lane reductions, left turn calming, and daylighting. The SFMTA crews make these all happen.

On Lake Merced Boulevard, that includes adding protected bike lanes southbound, removing a travel lane at the northern and southern sections, narrowing lanes to bring down driver speeds, and painting high-visibility continental crosswalks.

These safety improvements are crucial, and still needed on many streets. Walk SF continues to look to the SFMTA to meet its commitment to fix the 900 designated high-injury intersections awaiting basic safety improvements by December 2024.

On Tuesday, February 27 at 1PM, we’ll be at the SFMTA Board’s Vision Zero Subcommittee meeting to hear the progress update on this key action to better protect all of us in the crosswalk.