Oak Street to get major bike-friendly redesign by summer 2026
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Courtesy of SFMTA Oak Street Quick-Build Project Team.
In an effort to improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, Oak Street will be getting a major redesign that is expected to be completed by next summer.
State of play: The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency earlier this week approved the $1.3 million "quick build" project to create a protected eastbound bike lane with a wide buffer separating it from vehicles.
- The 0.8-mile project along Oak Street between Stanyan and Baker streets, which was created as part of the city's Vision Zero safety initiative, will mirror the westbound-running Fell Street redesign.
- That has led to a 38% drop in roadway collisions and 50% drop in pedestrian crashes, according to the SFMTA.
By the numbers: The major thoroughfare along the Panhandle has been a hazardous roadway for years. The stretch between Cole and Baker represents 12% of streets that account for 68% of the city's severe and fatal traffic collisions, SFMTA data shows.
What they're saying: "Oak Street has been on the high Injury network in San Francisco for a long time. This is a step in the right direction," Christopher White, executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, told Axios.
Between the lines: The renovation entails repaving the corridor, removing a traffic lane, painting "safety zones" and installing concrete islands.
- 23 parking spaces along Oak Street will also be removed, 18 of which will be taken out between Ashbury and Masonic streets to make way for two left-turn lanes.
- The remaining five spaces will be removed on Baker Street between Fell and Oak to allow for the curbside bikeway into the Panhandle.
- An additional 26 parking spaces will be removed throughout the area due to California's new daylighting law.
Yes but: While the project is expected to create a safer path, Luke Bornheimer, who is the executive director of Streets Forward, says that the proposed design would make it "inconvenient" for cyclists since the bike lane would cross into the Panhandle just west of Masonic Street.
- "Ironically, that would encourage people on bikes to ride on the paths used by people walking in Panhandle," he said.
- The organization is advocating for the SFMTA to approve the project and "upgrade the design to keep the bikeway in the roadway for the entirety of the project area," Bornheimer added.
What's next: The first phase of the project, which involves adding a new traffic signal and constructing the bikeway is expected to be completed late this year with it fully operational by summer 2026.