Supervisor Eric Mar: Town Hall follow up

Our Richmond community deserves safer, more livable streets.

Last month, I hosted a Town Hall Meeting on pedestrian and traffic safety and street improvements with Capt. Richard Corriea of the Richmond Police Station and staff from both the SF Planning Department and the Municipal Transportation Agency.

Many people described concerns about dangerous intersections and streets. We also brainstormed creative ideas on how to make our streets more livable and discussed two concepts that the Planning Department is working on: Pavement to Parks and the Better Streets Plan.

Pavement to Parks transforms paved areas that are not being used to their fullest potential into lively and vivid public plazas and parks (http://sfpavementtoparks. sfplanning.org). We need your ideas and help to transform the Richmond into a more livable place for everyone.

The Better Streets Plan is a blueprint for the future of San Francisco's transit first, pedestrian environment. The plan takes into account the needs of all street users, and reflects the understanding that our streets serve a variety of social, recreational, and ecological needs. By providing guidelines for our sidewalks and crosswalks, and in some instances certain areas of the roadway, the plan will improve areas of the street where people walk, shop, sit, play or interact, outside of moving vehicles.

Once fully realized, the Better Streets Plan will help retain families in San Francisco, support Muni and a transit-first city, help promote public safety, decrease pedestrian injuries, increase street accessibility for all users, and enhance the everyday quality of life for all San Francisco residents.

I am working with members of the Richmond community to create a Better Streets Working Group. If this is something that you are interested in, please contact my office.

As a follow up to last month's Town Hall Meeting, we will be hosting a "better streets" neighborhood meeting on July 8, from 6:30 to 8 p.m., at the Richmond District Neighborhood Center (741 30th Ave.). Learn about how you can do sidewalk landscaping in front of your house, community challenge grants for street improvements, community gardens and Pavement to Parks.

Street, Pedestrian and Transportation Improvements
Speaking of street improvements, I am hosting a meeting along with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) to discuss pedestrian, transit and street improvements on Geary Boulevard and the Geary Bus Rapid Transit project (BRT).

Our neighborhood is poised to significantly improve the reliability and speed of our #38 Geary buses on the city's second most widely traveled street. We also have a key opportunity to beautify and improve Geary Boulevard with new landscaping and amenities.

The evaluation of BRT for Geary Boulevard that kicked-off in 2004 has reached a new milestone as the SFCTA delves deeper into its analysis of the proposed project with a full environmental impact analysis. BRT, which incorporates a dedicated transit lane between Van Ness and 33rd avenues, real-time travel information, and high-quality stations, among other features, is being considered for this important corridor as a means to better serve the 55,000 daily transit riders on Geary.

Though primarily focused on transit improvements, Geary BRT would offer enhancements that carry benefits for drivers and pedestrians as well. Traffic signal optimization will help maintain the flow of vehicles on the roadway, while new countdown signals and curb extensions on many street corners will improve crossing conditions for those traveling on foot.

While Richmond District residents and businesses are poised to reap substantial benefits if BRT is implemented, the Environmental Review underway will help identify any potential impacts of the project. Some of the issues that will be evaluated during this analysis include changes to traffic on neighboring streets, the effect on parking availability on Geary, and construction impacts that would be associated with the implementation of BRT.

On July 27, at the Richmond Recreation Center, from 7 to 9 p.m., my office will co-host a meeting to learn more about Geary BRT and pedestrian and street improvements for Geary Boulevard.

For more information about the project, please visit www.GearyBRT.org or contact the principal transportation planner, Zabe Bent, at gearybrt@sfcta.org.

Other Upcoming Mar Events: Come bike to work with me! Meet at Velo Rouge Cafe on July 31, between 8 - 8:10 a.m., and bike to City Hall.

Please join me for coffee during my monthly "Coffee with Eric," on Thursday, July 16, from 6:30 - 7:30 p.m., at the Bazaar Cafe, 5927 California St.

Supervisor Eric Mar represents District 1.