Ocean Avenue is a major artery, running from Mission Street west across town to the Pacific. By car, bike and public transportation, those coming from San Francisco’s Southeast neighborhoods access Ocean Avenue to get to the city’s Western neighborhoods or cross it to go north. All seem to be in a hurry. Impatient drivers jostle with the 29, 49, 43 busses and the J and K trains. Meanwhile, people are walking, cycling, skateboarding to local destinations and to the Balboa BART station.
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar noted that in terms of safety, “the walk from Balboa [BART] station to Lick-Wilmerding and City College is inhospitable.”
Devastating accidents on Ocean Avenue and the concerns of the local community set in motion a plan to redesign the street into a safer, more efficient, environmentally friendly thoroughfare.
In September 2021, Melgar initiated action to make the street safer and more orderly. She organized and invited me to a task force, the Ocean Avenue Mobility Action Plan. The task force consists of 12 community members representing different groups such as Riordan High School, Lick-Wilmerding High School, San Francisco Transit Riders, and more.
The task force’s proposed role is to advise the San Francisco County Transportation Authority on the best approaches to enhance the safety of Ocean Avenue, more specifically starting from San Jose to Junipero Serra, focusing on the Ocean/Frida Kahlo area. In action, this would look like making the street more multi-modal and welcoming to all forms of transportation.
In addition to safety, Melgar also noted that an important aspect of the redesign was to make the street environmentally friendly and functional for those not in cars. Modernizing the corridor gives planners the opportunity “to invest in transit and make it easier for people to walk or to take MUNI and then scooter to school.” Melgar noted, “The world is changing. We have to move away from transit that’s based on fossil fuels.”
Advocacy director for San Francisco Transit Riders and member of the task force Zack Deutsch-Gross, said that living a few blocks away from Ocean Avenue allows him to “see the beauty of Ocean Avenue but also the urgent need we have to improve transportation along the corridor.”
Gross explained that when there is more reliable and safe public transportation in a corridor, people are more likely to use it instead of driving and traffic is reduced.
Gross pointed out current drawbacks to riding the MUNI train or busses on Ocean Avenue. He said, “the K stops on Ocean Avenue aren’t high quality train stops. Riders getting off the K step directly into car traffic.” Another problem with public transportation on the avenue is that it is “notoriously slow” which makes it less appealing to use. Gross noted that implementing transit-only lanes would alleviate the slowness.
The goals of the Ocean Avenue Mobility Action Plan are to build on past research and infrastructure plans for Ocean Avenue. Then, they will consider all modes of transportation and tie the past infrastructure plans to future development of the area. They will reach out to the public for comments in the form of surveys and town halls.
Once the task force has public input and has made sure their ideas align with the community’s priorities, the task force will be ready to compose an action plan to report to the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).
The SFCTA, a state-chartered sub-regional planning and transportation authority for San Francisco County will drive the plan along with working with the task force throughout the process, SFCTA will secure funding for the plan and work with Caltrans on changes related to the freeway.
The SFMTA, which manages transportation in San Francisco, will give approval of the proposed transportation improvements advocated by the task force.
Under the leadership of Supervisor Melgar and a senior planner from the SFCTA, the SFCTA, SFMTA, and the 12 task force members will work together to complete the action plan by Winter 2022-23 to redesign Ocean Avenue to be functional, equitable, and welcoming of multiple modes of transportation.
