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The federal government has committed $23 million for safety upgrades along San Francisco’s Howard Street through the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) initiative. That will help build significant upgrades planned for Howard Street's mostly paint-and-plastic-protected bike lanes in SoMa.
“Making the Howard Street corridor safer will save lives and prevent injuries while also encouraging more people to safely use our bike network in the South of Market area,” said Mayor London Breed. “We have moved quickly to open protected bike lanes with temporary dividers on Howard Streets, and this will allow us to build on that success and make these changes with more permanent infrastructure."
These improvements, which are scheduled for implementation over the next three years, include:
New two-way protected bike lane on Howard from 4th to 11th streets
Concrete buffers for parking-protected bikeways
New concrete protection for bicyclists in intersections
New separated bike signals with dedicated phases for cyclists and turning vehicles
Raised bikeways at select alley crossings to prioritize a cyclist’s right-of-way
"As San Francisco’s proud representative in the Congress, it was my privilege to help secure this transformative funding, and I will continue fighting alongside Mayor London Breed to achieve our Vision Zero – ending traffic fatalities in San Francisco by 2024,” said Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a prepared statement.
The Howard Streetscape Project will transform a dangerous, congested artery into a walkable and bike-friendly street – addressing urgent safety issues that resulted in three fatalities between 2014 and 2019. Upgrades will include permanent protected bike lanes, improved traffic signals, raised crosswalks and green infrastructure.
"Between 2014 and 2019, three fatalities occurred on the corridor, along with 152 traffic crashes on the Folsom-Howard couplet, with more than half of these involving people walking or biking," wrote the mayor's office.
BART was the first accessible transit system in the country. Advocates want Bay Area transit agencies to do better at keeping buses and trains accessible for all