In early August, it seemed San Francisco would get four permanently “slow” streets. Now, not so fast.
On Lake Street, in the city’s northwest corner, a summer 2020 survey showed 67 percent resident approval, and with a green light from the city’s transit board, choosing the final design for the slow portion of Lake Street — stretching nearly 30 blocks from the Inner Richmond to Sea Cliff—was supposed to be the only decision left to make.
But neighborhood pushback has forced SF to add a fourth option to the decision: reopening Lake Street to through traffic. SFMTA spokesperson Erica Kato confirmed that the transportation agency has put the option back on the table based on input from some residents. The development has surprised many locals, who figured the permanent “slow” status was a done deal.
James Le, an IT consultant who lives near Lake Street in the Richmond, says he bikes regularly on the street with his children and would hate to see full car access restored: “Lake has been a really important part of our lives recently.”
If reversed, it would be SF’s first post-pandemic slow street to have vehicles fully restored. SFMTA has not had to reinstate a “no build,” or full reopening option for any other slow streets approved for post-pandemic continuation, Kato wrote in an email.
Of the four permanent slow streets approved in August, Lake’s 67 percent approval from street residents was second lowest (Shotwell Street: 94 percent, Golden Gate Avenue: 83 percent, Sanchez Street: 64 percent).
Opponents insist that neighborhood acceptance has waned, so SFMTA has also opened a new survey.
In a Dec. 3 email to Richmond residents, Eillie Anzilotti, an SFMTA public relations officer, wrote that agency officials had met with over 200 Richmond residents who opposed the slow street and who contended that some 500 others shared their views. Meanwhile, a petition to Keep Lake Slow has collected over 900 signatures. Both sides of the issue have their own websites and petitions.
Three points, and a miss
The push to bring cars back at full speed to Lake Street centers on three talking points: Nearby streets have become more congested and less safe; Lake Street itself is now less safe, even with fewer cars on it; and seniors and disabled people have less access.https://twitter.com/laurenmwhite/status/1471705300520648708
Not one of these is true, according to the most recent data from a summer 2021 report.
Regarding access: In “slow” mode, Lake Street is still open to cars. Seniors, disabled people, and others who want to drive to and from their homes or others’ homes can do so. (There is only one business, a small art gallery, on the street.) They’re just asked to go slowly, limit their use of the street, and share it with pedestrians and bicyclists.
As for safety and congestion, the report shows that collisions are half as frequent on the slow version of the street. There are still more than 500 cars on Lake every day, but their average speed is about 14 miles per hour.
The street also hosts roughly 500 bicyclists and pedestrians per day, slightly higher on weekends.
Congestion on neighboring streets, with the parallel California Street absorbing the brunt of former Lake through traffic, remained moderate, on average, with peak “observed” congestion never reaching what the agency considers “severe.”
SFMTA’s Kato said a data update should be out next month.
Gripes next door
So much for the facts. A Thursday night public Zoom meeting convened by SFMTA turned nasty almost immediately. Callers opposing slow Lake cursed, slammed SFMTA as “authoritarian,” and accused slow Lake supporters of selfishness. One commenter charged that the slow street was “destroying families.”
“Why don’t you think of other people?” asked another.
The pro-slow Le said he first started seeing anti-slow complaints on the social media site Nextdoor. One of the people spearheading the campaign is Mark Dietrich, who is also behind the Stop Richmond Burglary campaign. “He’s kind of a community figure,” Le said, noting his involvement in neighborhood cleanups.
The Frisc obtained an email dated Nov. 24 in which Dietrich invited those who had signed an anti-slow Lake petition to attend a Dec. 1 meeting with SFMTA. Dietrich urged recipients to keep the effort under wraps: “Please don’t forward this meeting invitation or post it online. This meeting is not open to the general public.”
Le called the effort “sketchy” and added: “If it didn’t come to light, this [no slow-street option] would not have come out until the [virtual] open house,” which SFMTA launched last week. It will remain open until Jan. 14.
Dietrich did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Those in favor
SF’s slow streets were born in the early days of the pandemic, when many people in the second-densest U.S. city were cooped up in their homes and needed more outdoor space for socially distanced breathing room and recreation.
As the pandemic slogs on, a longer-term vision has taken hold. Like the rest of the globe, San Francisco faces profound risks from climate change, and slow streets have become a potential impetus to alter our climate-changing behavior.
Richmond resident and slow street supporter Joseph Tartakovsky, who moderated a Dec. 13 meeting with District 1 Sup. Connie Chan and an aide to District 2 Sup. Catherine Stefani, also notes the social benefits: “Lake is a wonderful place where kids can bike, friends can stroll, and neighbors can meet,” Tartakovsky said.
“Like many people, I was puzzled and alarmed to hear of this new back door way of reversing the [SFMTA] vote. The people who support it, and I think it’s a majority, have decided we need to go through this fight again,” he observed.
Expect a couple more months of this. At Thursday night’s meeting, SFMTA engineer Jonathan Chimento said the agency would continue public outreach through January and propose a solution in February.
He added that the agency is not considering a Great Highway-like compromise, with through traffic allowed on weekdays. In other words, Lake Street will either be slow all the time or not at all.
Max Harrison-Caldwell is a staff writer for The Frisc.
