Whereas
construction has started on pedestrian and bicycle safety
improvements for Masonic Avenue from the south side of Geary
Boulevard to Fell Street including safety medians with traffic
calming and tree plantings, and Geary Boulevard is part of the Geary
Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project being designed for transit and
pedestrian safety improvements but crossing the north side of the
Masonic Avenue and Geary Boulevard intersection currently requires a
pedestrian to cross a wide busy street without a median and this
intersection is not included for a Near-term pedestrian safety
improvement; while Geary Boulevard at Masonic Avenue includes wide
medians for pedestrian crossing on the east and west sides, and
Whereas
even intersections with well intentioned walking countdown signal
lights set for a pedestrian crossing speed of 3.5 feet/sec. per the
San Francisco standard, cannot be crossed completely by a growing
segment of our elderly population and properly designed medians and
adequate traffic signal provisions are essential for these people to
cross wide busy streets half way and wait safely, and
Whereas
a properly designed safety median should meet minimum pedestrian
safety requirements and include a protective “thumbnail” and a
supporting hand rail and a bench where practical, and
Whereas
Geary Boulevard has frequent Rapid and Local bus service with largest
the bus ridership in the Nation, but it also a thoroughfare with high
amounts of auto traffic, and the Masonic Avenue bus is an important
north south neighborhood connecting transit route, and reliable and
fast as practical bus transit is an important component of San
Francisco’s Transit First Policy which reduces auto traffic and
improves pedestrian safety, and
Whereas
many high traffic San Francisco streets have traffic signals designed
to move traffic expeditiously and require pedestrians to request a
pedestrian crossing countdown signal, timed for a pedestrian crossing
speed of 3.5 feet/sec, in order to provide more time for traffic, but
they also include a delayed green light crossing light to prevent
right turning cars from reducing essential pedestrian crossing time,
and
Whereas
the San Francisco Bay area is the center of autonomous car design and
pedestrian detection devices are included in every autonomous car to
stop the car when pedestrians are detected, and this equipment is
being tested in the Bay Area, now
Therefore
the Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee (PSAC) Resolves that a
properly designed median for the north side and south side crossing
of Masonic Avenue be included as a near-term pedestrian safety
improvement for the Geary Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Project, and
Further
Resolves that a pedestrian request crossing countdown signal, timed
for a maximum pedestrian crossing speed of 3.5 feet/sec be provided
along with a delay for right turning traffic, to allow the complete
crossing of Masonic Avenue, north and south of Geary Boulevard, and
Further
Resolves that a pedestrian request crossing countdown signal, timed
for a maximum pedestrian crossing speed of 3.5 feet/sec be provided
along with a delay for right turning traffic, to allow the crossing
of each section of Geary Boulevard east and west of Masonic Avenue;
along with a pedestrian detection device interlocked with the traffic
signal for each half of surface Geary Boulevard to delay the green
light for east or west bound traffic until all pedestrians have
cleared the crossing section as a way to be sure that even the
slowest walking pedestrian can cross safely with minimum impact on
transit.
