[Ebbc-Talk] Yes, We Can Fit Protected Bike Lanes and Two Transit Lanes on Potrero | Streetsblog San Francisco

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2013/08/02/yes-we-can-fit-protected-bike-lanes-an=
d-two-transit-lanes-on-potrero/

Yes, We Can Fit Protected Bike Lanes and Two Transit Lanes on Potrero

Streetsblog commenter Josh Handel drew up this plan for Potrero that city p=
lanners didn't present.

After listening to city planners say there=92s no practical way to redesign=
 Potrero Avenue with protected bike lanes and two transit lanes, Josh Hande=
l didn=92t buy it.

Handel shared a plan in the Streetsblog comments that includes protected bi=
ke lanes and two transit lanes wide enough to fit buses comfortably (unlike=
 those in the city proposal). He even managed to include the center median =
for pedestrian refuges and left-turn lanes, plus a lane for car parking.

The geometry appears to work. It does cut a couple of feet off the city=92s=
 proposal for a 14-foot-wide sidewalk, but the planted median along the bik=
e lane would provided more separation between that sidewalk and motor traff=
ic. And, of course, it has two through-lanes for private car traffic instea=
d of the four lanes in the SFMTA=92s latest proposal.

The city has yet to put forward a proposal that would prioritize transit an=
d bicycling to this extent. The closest option shown at public meetings inc=
luded three traffic lanes, two 10.5 foot-wide transit lanes (narrow for bus=
es) and unprotected bike lanes. And even that option was dropped because, t=
hey said, we just can=92t do without all four existing traffic lanes for pr=
ivate automobiles.

The largest =93trade-off=94 here, as planners call it, is that creating qua=
lity space for walking, transit, and biking means re-allocating some of the=
 space devoted to cars =97 the vast majority of space on Potrero today...


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