March 08, 2005
On the foolishness of double-turn lanes
From Transportation for a Livable City's current action items:
Tell the City to remove dangerous and unneeded double turn
lanes.
WHAT'S AT STAKE: Double turn lanes are notoriously dangerous for pedestrians, bicyclists, and other motorists. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) says that double turn lanes pose significant "liabilities" to pedestrians and bicyclists." The State of Oregon's 'Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan' and the City of Portland's (OR) 'Bikeway Design and Engineering Guidelines' state that double turn lanes should be allowed "only if absolutely necessary" to prevent gridlock, should be "closely scrutinized", and should be "avoided whenever possible."Despite there known dangers, there are approximately 80 double turn lanes
throughout the City, and while many of these are no longer serve any
significant traffic control purpose, they continue to endanger pedestrians
and bicyclists. Thankfully, DPT has undertaken an initiative to remove
these dangerous and unneeded double turn lanes throughout the City, and
several of these have already been approved for removal
(http://livablecity.org/pipermail/news_livablecity.org/2004q4/000050.html).Unfortunately, a city committee called ISCOTT recently refused to approve
the removal of a double turn lane at 6th & Harrison, despite the fact that
DPT's analysis showed no significant impact on auto traffic
(http://livablecity.org/pipermail/news_livablecity.org/2005q1/000055.html).
This Thursday, ISCOTT will consider DPT's proposal to remove 4 more double
turn lanes and this Committee needs to hear that you believe pedestrian and
bicyclist safety should always be a higher priority than potential concerns
about adding a few seconds of travel delay for drivers.TAKE ACTION:
- E-MAIL DPT c/o Ricardo Olea (mailto:ricardo.olea@sfgov.org) and ISCOTT c/o
Conrado Magat (mailto:Conrado.Magat@sfgov.org) and let them know you support
DPT's efforts to remove dangerous and unneeded double turn lanes. Sample
language is below:"I am writing in support of DPT's proposal to remove double turn lanes at
the following locations:* Beale and Mission Streets (Agenda Item #2)
* California and Kearny Streets (Agenda Item #3)
* Bush and Kearny Streets (Agenda Item #4)
* Battery and Clay Streets (Agenda Item #5)I believe that ensuring the safety of San Francisco's pedestrians and
bicyclists should always be a higher priority than concern about adding a
few seconds of travel delay for drivers. Double turn lanes are known by
transportation professionals to be dangerous and should only be used when
they are absolutely necessary to prevent significant auto traffic congestion
from occurring on a regular and ongoing basis.To allow double turn lanes to remain in place simply to reduce delay for
motorists by a few seconds is both inhumane and negligent, is a violation of
the City’s Transit-First Policy, and would seem to expose the city to
substantial liability. I encourage you to step up this effort to improve
pedestrian and bicyclist safety by bringing forward all the unneeded double
turn lanes throughout the City for removal."- ATTEND the ISCOTT hearing in person this Thursday, 3/10, 25 Van Ness Ave.,
Suite 345, 3rd Floor Conference Room.
