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Advocates lobbied hard for protected bike lanes in SoMa. Unfortunately, it took the deaths of several cyclists over the years to convince city bureaucrats and lawmakers to install them. And Streetsblog has been critical of the intersection treatments. But there's another big problem: the ones that have been installed aren't maintained or are wrecked or blocked by construction crews.
Rick Byrd brought an example of this to the attention of advocates via social media, pointing out the substandard pavement conditions around the intersection of Bryant, 11th and Division. It's bad enough that these fast intersections remain unprotected, but there are wide wheel ruts and crackly pavement just as cars are turning across the bike lane. It's hard to see the ruts at night and, as Byrd pointed out on Facebook, imagine what's going to happen as the first heavy rains of the season roll in and fill these spaces up, hiding the conditions. "Much worse than a pothole, more of a 20ft long trench that has been there for over a month," he wrote. "Rain coming soon, hope they fix it before then."
Streetsblog went to the intersection today to check them out first hand. Byrd is right--this is yet another serious or deadly crash waiting to happen.
Advocate Dylan Harris, also on Facebook, shot video of pavement conditions in the area, which he posted in response to Byrd's comment:
Harris also points out how the bike lane still abruptly drops out north of Folsom.
Unfortunately, even as San Francisco struggles to make the streets of SoMa and elsewhere safer, they are falling down on basic maintenance that is critical to preventing crashes. And let's be frank: if this wheel rut/cracked and missing pavement were deep enough to damage a car or cause a crash between motorists, it would never be tolerated.
"This is a particularly bad spot for an unavoidable unleveled trench since many cyclists also have to use this as it is the section on Division just after Best Buy and just before Potrero," wrote Byrd. "Whether you're heading down Division or up Bryant street, you will end up going through this at a pretty good speed with traffic right next to you, perfect spot to dent your rim... or worse."
Streetsblog has reached out to the SFMTA, Public Works, and District Supervisor Matt Haney and will update this post accordingly.
What's the worst pavement condition you see on your commute? Post comments and pictures below.
