Board approves revisions to Valencia Street side-running bikeway; will reintroduce left turns at three intersections

The SFMTA board approved design revisions and construction updates for the mid‑Valencia side‑running protected bikeway project between 15th and 23rd streets, including tailored parking and loading changes and a limited reintroduction of left turns at three intersections.

Project status and changes: Project manager Paul Stennis said construction began in mid‑February and crews expect substantial completion in early May, with a small amount of trailing work such as restoring some left‑turn movements. Staff described outreach with businesses and community groups, added parking vouchers near two SFMTA garages to support merchants during construction and said crews are improving lighting in nearby agency‑owned garages.

Left turns: The board considered reintroducing left turns at 17th Street, 20th Street (First) and 23rd Street (Third) to provide direct access to SFMTA garages and a neighborhood school. To reduce conflicts, staff proposed a split‑phase signal design that separates northbound and southbound left‑turn movements and isolates left turns from oncoming vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian movements. The project team said the approach is constrained by aging signal infrastructure and that a full signal upgrade was not possible within the current project budget and schedule.

Safety and evaluation: Walking and bicycling advocates pressed the board to keep left turns restricted, citing city Vision Zero data that left turns cause a large share of pedestrian‑involved collisions. Walk San Francisco and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition urged delaying any reintroduction of left turns until the new bikeway has had time to normalize, warning that adding turns earlier could confuse users and skew the project’s evaluation. Staff responded that the split‑phase design separates left‑turn traffic from vulnerable users and pledged independent evaluations at two, four and six months after implementation to measure congestion, travel times, signal compliance, crashes and “close calls.”

Board votes and next steps: Directors expressed support for the project’s business‑focused curb changes and cautious support for the limited left‑turn reintroductions provided staff monitor safety and performance. The board approved the revisions unanimously. Staff will implement the split‑phase signals where feasible and return data from the scheduled evaluations; they also committed to further outreach to community groups during the implementation period.

Context: The board also noted near‑term complementary efforts, including extra sidewalk cleaning and a planned “fix‑it” night closure for overhead Muni wires, and a merchant‑focused night market planned during project implementation to support local businesses.