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Bayview residents: make your voices heard on ‘Vision Zero Quick Build’ projects happening in the neighborhood

When the SFMTA Board approved the years-in-the-making Bayview Community-Based Transportation Plan last year, the Plan identified a few key corridors for Vision Zero Quick Build safety improvements. SFMTA and partners have been hard at work moving these forward.

The first ‘Quick Build’ has now been installed along the combination of Evans Avenue, Hunters Point Boulevard, and Innes Avenue near India Basin. Williams Avenue, on the other side of the neighborhood, now has a proposed ‘Quick Build’ that needs your feedback on TODAY!

What’s needed on Williams Avenue

In advance of the current Williams design, Walk SF organized street safety trainings andwalk audits with Bayview seniors, other neighbors, and SFMTA project staff.

Williams is currently designated as a high-injury corridor, one of 13% of streets where 75% of serious and fatal crashes happen. On the walk audits, we identified key safety issues that the ‘Quick Build’ can help address.

These safety issues on Williams include:

• Dangerous speeds. Using speed radar guns, we observed drivers regularly and significantly speeding on Williams. Speed is a top concern since a crash at 25mph is twice as likely to kill a pedestrian as a crash at 20mph.
• Failure to yield. Williams has wide traffic lanes with dangerous crossings. Crossings can be just a yield sign (like at the busy Apollo intersection outside of FoodsCo), long and diagonal (like at Neptune), or multi-stage and confusing (like at Reddy). Each of these designs make yielding even more important for people walking.
• Lack of safe opportunities to cross. At intersections like the one near Reddy, we saw drivers confused by the current multi-stage intersection. Meanwhile, pedestrians have to go out of their way to find a crosswalk.

Speak out for strong Williams Avenue safety improvements today!

Fortunately, the proposed designs for Williams address many of these issues. They include:

• A road diet to remove a vehicle lane to calm traffic.
• Speed cushions to bring down speeds, especially near crosswalks.
• Daylighting to improve visibility at intersections to reduce crashes.

We’re still asking for more. Specifically, we want better protection at the Apollo Street crossing. After Third Street, this is the second most dangerous crossing on Williams. A median refuge island or a raised treatment, like what currently exists at Mendell, can provide more safety and peace of mind to people who right now must cross three lanes of traffic with just a yield sign.

Today is the last day of the Williams Avenue Open House, so if you use Williams regularly, please speak up for these safety improvements. Fill out the SFMTA survey now to support these designs.

Next up: Evans Avenue ‘Quick Build’

With Williams Avenue moving forward, the SFMTA is now kicking off its work on Evans Avenue between Third and Cesar Chavez with a survey for anyone who uses Evans Avenue. Take five minutes to weigh in on Evans Avenue.