Parking and transit changes are coming to Chinatown that add more parking spaces at the request of merchants while maintaining transit lanes for Muni’s busy 1-California buses.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors on Tuesday approved the traffic changes as part of a broader effort to work with the Chinatown community, according to the agency’s transportation planner Jenny Delumo.
“Over the past year, the community has asked for more streamlined communication with the agency, and we’ve worked to respond to that need,” Delumo said.
The part-time tow-away zones on Clay Street between Kearny and Leidesdorff streets, which are active from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., will be removed as part of the project. The tow-away zone will be converted into 11 all-day parking and loading spaces.
Project manager Jessica Kuo said the transit-only and taxi lanes will be moved to the middle lane, allowing vehicles to still make a right turn. Moving the lane to the middle will allow the transit lane to be full-time instead of part-time.
Additionally, the project will remove a 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. tow-away zone on Sacramento Street between Stockton and Powell streets and be converted to 12 all-day parking and loading spaces.
“This is a part of a broader citywide effort to be responsive to merchant requests for more parking, and to find the right balance on the street to meet loading, parking, and transit needs,” Kuo said of the project.
The 1-California route carries approximately 20,000 daily riders that connect riders to the Richmond District, Chinatown, and the downtown area. Kuo said the bus can run as slow as 3 mph in parts of Chinatown. A part-time transit lane installed in 2016 did improve transit reliability, she added.
Jamie Viloria, the outreach and organizing manager with the San Francisco Transit Riders, said it was a “win-win scenario” as merchants will gain more parking spaces while the transit lane is maintained.
Delumo said other efforts with working with Chinatown are already underway as the city tackles three major construction projects, including the renovation of Portsmouth Square Park, which includes the demolition of the Kearny Street pedestrian bridge. The city is also working on renovation projects for the Chinatown library and public health center.
