Parking impacts of bus lanes less than feared
By: John Upton
Examiner Staff Writer
January 12, 2009
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| Construction efforts to create dedicated bus-only lanes on Geary Boulevard — and to prepare the corridor for a potential future light-rail network — might run from 2011 to 2013. The project could cost more than $200 million, new figures show. (Cindy Chew/The Examiner) |
SAN FRANCISCO — Controversy that has raged regarding the expected loss of Geary Boulevard parking spots under a plan to slash transit times appears to be waning, and new figures show parking will decrease by no more than 40 spaces — or increase.
Voters in 2003 passed Proposition K, approving a 30-year transit plan that includes the “creation of fast, frequent and reliable bus rapid-transit service, with exclusive transit lanes and dedicated stations” on three corridors, including Geary Boulevard, a major east-west thoroughfare.
The project could cut express commute times from downtown to the Outer Richmond district from one hour to 45 minutes, according to Zabe Bent, San Francisco County Transportation Authority planner.
Construction efforts to create dedicated bus-only lanes — and to prepare the corridor for a potential future light-rail network — might run from 2011 to 2013, according to Bent. Construction would be staggered in geographic chunks to minimize disruption.
The project could cost more than $200 million, new figures show, and The City has already set aside $30 million, Bent said. Federal grants are expected to help.
The plan has not been popular with all of the merchants along Geary Boulevard, which is dominated by small grocery stores and other neighborhood-serving businesses.
City planners who went door-to-door along the boulevard in early 2007 found that business owners’ main concerns related to customer impacts from the loss of parking and from construction activities, according to Bent.
There are 1,100 parking spaces along Geary Boulevard, and the transit authority recently crafted plans that could see that reduced to 1,060 spaces, according to Bent.
Under some scenarios being considered, parking along the boulevard would be increased by up to 150 spots by targeting areas currently used for bus stops and by reorganizing parking on side streets, she said.
Out of 112 comments the authority recently received from the public related to expected project impacts, just one related to parking, authority documents show. “I was surprised,” Bent said.
Supervisor Eric Mar, whose district covers much of Geary Boulevard, said the project could help merchants along the thoroughfare grow their businesses.
“One of the underacknowledged benefits of a [bus rapid-transit] system is that it helps our small businesses and the economy in the Richmond by getting people to our district,” Mar said.
But David Heller, a beauty-store owner and president of the Geary Boulevard Merchants Association, said he’s opposed to the plans and is mulling a lawsuit, fearing that businesses will be displaced by condos as the corridor develops.
Busy corridor
A plan is in the works to improve transit on Geary Boulevard:
8 mph: Current average speed of the 38-Geary bus
25 percent: Expected reduction in transit times following improvements
50,000: Trips taken daily on the three 38-Geary bus lines.
65,000: Vehicles traveling daily on Geary Boulevard past Divisadero Street, one of the busiest intersections
5,126: Businesses along the Geary corridor
30,354: Housing units along the Geary corridor
$157 million to $212 million: Expected cost of Geary Boulevard transit improvements.
$100 million or more: Expected cost to add overhead wires to accommodate electric buses, which are not currently in plans
$2.8 billion: Transit funding expected during next 30 years from half-cent sales tax, some of which will be used for Geary Boulevard improvements.
Source: San Francisco County Transportation Authority
Speeding up transit
Several ideas in the plan to improve Geary Boulevard include:
- Dedicated bus lanes will be built in the Geary Boulevard median or along the outside curbs
- Bus lanes will be wide enough to accommodate light-rail vehicles in the future
- Bus stops will be 800 to 1,000 feet apart
- Bus stops for express service will be half a mile apart
- Underpasses and overpasses might be removed from the intersections of Fillmore Street and Masonic Avenue
Source: San Francisco County Transportation Authority
