San Jose Avenue update

From:

Damon R. Curtis, PE

Construction & Design Services Engineer

Livable Streets – Community Projects

Hello Neighbors,

You have probably noticed that construction of Phase II for the San Jose Avenue and I-280 Off-Ramp Road Diet Pilot Project did not occur last week as previously planned. Due to scheduling conflicts, construction of Phase II will now take place on June 9-10 from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM each day. Caltrans will close the San Jose Avenue off-ramp during these periods. In addition, City crews will redirect or intermittently stop traffic on San Jose Avenue and Monterey Boulevard as needed to safely perform the striping work. And just to clarify, Phase II consists only of restriping the freeway off-ramp to reduce it to a single lane. There will be no changes to the current lane configurations on San Jose Avenue between the off-ramp and Randall Street.

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge all of the feedback we have received in the last few of weeks. Several of you have expressed continued support for the project but many of you have questions and concerns. Rather than attempt to respond to everyone individually, I have compiled the following information to address a few of the issues that have been mentioned most often. Please contact me if you have additional questions that are not addressed below.

SFMTA collected Post-Pilot Phase I data in September 2014 and January 2015. We also received over 400 responses to the online survey conducted last fall through the project webpage,http://www.sfmta.com/projects-planning/projects/northbound-san-jose-avenue-i-280-off-ramp-road-diet-pilot-project, as well as dozens of emails and telephone calls with comments and first-hand observations.

A summary of the Post-Pilot Phase I data, along with pre-pilot data collected at the same locations last January, is attached. Also included below is a summary of the anticipated next steps, which are based on the data, observations conducted by staff, and information learned from the feedback we have received.

Summary of Data Results

· San Jose Avenue – AM peak hour traffic volumes decreased 21% and speeds decreased only 6%, a fairly minor drop from 49 MPH to 46 MPH.

· Rousseau Street – AM peak hour traffic volumes increased 79% and speeds increased 18%.

· Milton Street – AM peak hour traffic volumes decreased 22 percent and speeds decreased 4%.

· St. Marys Avenue – AM peak hour traffic volumes increased 13% in the southbound direction and decreased 5% in the northbound direction. Similarly, AM peak hour traffic speeds on St. Marys Avenue increased in both the southbound and northbound directions, 19% and 63%, respectively. It also should be noted that during the PM peak hour southbound traffic volumes on St. Marys Avenue rose substantially by 125%.

· Bicycles on San Jose Avenue – AM peak hour bicycle volumes increased tremendously by 651%.

[Editor’s note: SFMTA corrected this last statement about bicycles:

“The actual rise in average daily bicycle ridership on northbound San Jose Avenue during was 15%, with an increase of 14% in the AM Peak Hour and 62% in the PM Peak Hour. “]

As mentioned above we have received feedback from a great number of residents, and by and large the comments and concerns expressed fall into three main areas: increased congestion on San Jose Avenue; increased traffic on St. Marys Avenue; and, vehicle encroachment into the separated bikeway.

Next Steps

June 2015
- Implement Phase II of the Pilot, which consists of reducing the freeway off-ramp to a single lane (June 9-10).
- SFMTA staff to observe San Jose Avenue traffic conditions in the field and be available to answer questions (date, time and location to be determined).
- SFMTA staff to contact residents on Rousseau, Milton and St. Marys (and Glen, Marsily, and College) directly to determine the level of support for possible changes designed to decrease cut-through traffic on their streets, and to slow down the traffic that is there. This separate communication will include information about the potential benefits and likely drawbacks associated with each change, but for now here is a preliminary list of the potential changes:
  - Install speed humps on Rousseau between San Jose and Bosworth.
  - Make Milton two-way south of San Jose; right turns from San Jose would continue to be prohibited. Install a bulbout at the northwest corner to shorten pedestrian crossing distance and physically deter right turns from San Jose.
  - Install speed humps on St. Marys between San Jose and Mission. Prohibit right turns from San Jose to St. Marys. Install a bulbout at the northwest corner to shorten pedestrian crossing distance and physically deter right turns from San Jose.
June – August 2015
- Collect Phase II post-installation data.
- Install additional delineators in the bikeway buffer between Rousseau & Milton, between Milton & St. Marys, and approaching Randall, to further deter vehicle encroachment into the separated bikeway (date to be determined).
- Investigate possible signal timing adjustments at Randall to increase green time for northbound San Jose traffic (Note, this analysis will be done in conjunction with proposed changes by the Muni Forward project).
- Develop post-pilot recommendations.

September – December 2015
- Vet recommendations with community stakeholders.
- Environmentally clear and legislate recommended changes.

January 2016 – May 2016
- Coordinate implementation of post-pilot preferred design with DPW repaving project.

Thank you to all of the residents and commuters who have sent feedback about the pilot project so far. We appreciate your continued patience, cooperation and support.

Sincerely,

Damon R. Curtis, PE

Construction & Design Services Engineer

Livable Streets – Community Projects

415.701.4674 – office

510.708.6911 – cell

From: Curtis, Damon
Sent: Friday, May 22, 2015 4:46 PM
Subject: San Jose Avenue & I-280 Off-Ramp Road Diet Pilot Project

Dear neighbors,

Thanks for your continued interest in the San Jose Avenue and I-280 Off-Ramp Road Diet Pilot Project. The SFMTA has been working with Caltrans on measures to reduce speeding on San Jose Avenue and we have some new information to share.

Phase I of the pilot project reduced the number of travel lanes and provided a safer and more comfortable bikeway design in the hopes of reducing speeding on San Jose Avenue. These changes did not bring about the desired 15mph speed reduction along the corridor and we will be moving forward with Phase II beginning on June 2.

Phase II includes merging the two lanes of the I-280 off-ramp into a single lane upstream of the existing I-280 tunnel. Phase II construction will take place on June 2-3 and we will once again be collecting speed data to understand the impacts of these changes.

Thank you for your continued interest in the project. We will keep you updated as this project moves forward.

Damon R. Curtis, PE

Construction & Design Services Engineer

Livable Streets – Community Projects

SFMTA | Municipal Transportation Agency