Plans for improving #38 Geary debated

By Dmitry Kiper

Richmond District residents got a glimpse at what public transportation on Geary Boulevard may one day look like at a SF County Transportation Authority (TA) workshop Dec. 10. In its second series of public workshops, the transportation authority and Muni presented the latest results of its Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Study to local residents.

Muni and TA have been collecting data on the Geary bus line since last year. The study cost $600,000. Since the first series of public workshops in the spring, three conceptual designs for the Geary bus system have been proposed.

Several Geary merchants and local residents expressed their dissatisfaction with the project, some of them questioning the aggressiveness with which TA has advocated its conceptual designs. Some went even further.

"It seems to me it's a done deal," said David Heller, the president of the Greater Geary Boulevard Merchants and Property Owners Association.

Faced with other such comments, TA Executive Director Jose Luis Moscovich replied, "We're not building anything here. We're just doing a study."

The purpose of the meeting was "to show different design alternatives," Moscovich said.

All conceptual designs for the BRT in the Richmond have three things in common: right-turn pockets (meant to minimize the traffic delay caused by right turns); protruding, rounded curb corners, or bulbouts (meant to shorten the crosswalk and create more visibility for pedestrians); and dedicated bus lanes.

Geary currently has three lanes of traffic in each direction through the Richmond east of Park Presidio Boulevard. West of Park Presidio Geary has two lanes of traffic in each direction. A designated bus lane would eliminate one lane of traffic in each direction in this stretch of the boulevard.

The first conceptual design the TA is looking at is called "curbside BRT," in which busses travel in the right lane of the boulevard, like they currently do. Since passengers would have to wait on the sidewalk for the bus, the TA anticipates less construction impacts. In this scenario, left turns for vehicles are similar to what they are now.

One drawback of the plan, however, is the fact that for a vehicle to make a right-hand turn off Geary, it would have to cross through the dedicated "transit only" lane. This merging would slow busses down. As well, the TA anticipates a parking loss of up to 15 percent with the design.

The second conceptual design, called "center lane BRT," features two 9.5-foot-wide passenger islands in the middle of Geary with buses running in between them. The islands, along with the landscaping, would serve as a physical boundary between buses and cars.

This is the only option in which buses and cars are completely separated. The distance between the islands is expected to allow buses to pass one another, if necessary. Small gains in parking spaces are anticipated.

The third conceptual design plan, called "center lane BRT," features a 14-foot-wide passenger island which passengers share while waiting for east- and west-bound buses. In this plan there is no physical barrier between buses and cars - although there is talk of elevating the bus lane 8 inches or so to separate the vehicles.

This plan would require Muni to purchase new buses with left-loading entrances. As well, it is unlikely that buses would be able to pass each other in this scenario. Parking loss for this design is estimated at 15 percent.

For the two plans with dedicated transit lanes in the middle of Geary, vehicles would have to make left turns only on traffic-signal arrows located approximately every four blocks, according to Geary BRT Project Manager Julie Kirschbaum.

Other proposed elements of BRT include traffic-signal priority for buses, real-time information about the next bus coming, better quality bus shelters, lighting, signage, landscaping and countdown signals.

At the Geary workshop TA and Muni officials also discussed some of the most expensive parts of the project, the Fillmore Street and Masonic Avenue intersections. Between $30 million and $50 million is expected to go toward redesigning and rebuilding each of the intersections because of their size, importance and complexity.

The plan calls for Geary BRT to be "light-rail ready" (with infrastructure convertible to a light-rail system). There is currently not enough money for a light-rail system, say TA officials.

The estimated total cost of the Geary BRT project is between $150 and $200 million, which includes the cost of labor but not the cost of low-floor, high-capacity buses. Geary got new busses in the late '90s. If BRT gets built, it will receive new busses under the federal government's "fleet replacement program," in which busses are replaced every 12 to 13 years, Moscovich said.

Some of the funding for the project, approximately $50 million, will come from Prop K (approved in 2003), which will continue to collect a half-cent sales tax until 2033. The rest of the funding will come from the federal and state governments. The Geary corridor is "very competitive" because of its high ridership (50,000 daily passengers), Moscovich said.

There is a possibility, however, that all BRT options will be rejected.

"The important thing here is to let the analysis take place," Moscovich said.

After the final report and recommendations are issued in the summer, state and federal environmental reviews will examine the timeline and methods of the project, traffic and parking impacts, along with the possible effects on pedestrian and residential health and safety. This process will take two to three years, said Moscovich.

With advice from Muni, TA and the Planning Commission, the SF Board of Supervisors will make the final decision whether or not to go through with the project after an environmental review is completed. Neighborhood Concerns During the Q&A portion of the meeting, several people said there need to be more than just the three conceptual designs offered. Heller, along with other merchants, expressed his concern for the well-being of Geary businesses.

"The construction of BRT will put a lot of people out of business," Heller said.

Local businessman Keith Wilson, echoing a statement Heller made last spring, said utilizing already existing technologies (like real-time information for riders) could go a long way to improving service without taking on a new construction project.

"Why hasn't there been a study done to evaluate the impact the project may have on small businesses?" Wilson asked.

"The City does not do economic impact studies on infrastructure projects," said Moscovich, adding that an environmental review will consider issues important to businesses, such as traffic and parking losses.

The last series of public workshops is set to start in the spring.

For more information on Geary BRT, call 522-4830, visit the Web site gearybrt.org, or e-mail gearybrt@sfcta.org.