Remember that request for public comment regarding a proposed stoplight at Church and Cesar Chavez Streets? Looks like it's happening. The above sign is posted next to Noe Valley Pet Co. The referenced contract number 2419J specifies thirteen intersections around San Francisco (including here) and includes "traffic, pedestrian and transit signal installations, traffic routing and all associated work" for the bargain price of $1.726M. The entire project is expected to take one year, but don't count on construction at this one intersection taking that long.
What's not included in this is the rest of the Church St improvements approved under the same permit. See our post linked above for context (some links no longer work--SF redesigned its web presence and didn't redirect existing links...again). Here's the current page for the J Church Rapid Project. We're concerned that without making all approved changes vehicle traffic will reroute to avoid this light and make other intersections nearby more dangerous. What do you think?
[NVSF: Proposed: Traffic Signal For Intersection Of Church And Cesar Chavez Streets]
[Photo: @F6x]
8 comments:
Hopefully I'm not posting this twice and if I am, my bad. Considering that the 3 blocks of Castro Street from 22nd to Elizabeth are still not done(temporary crosswalks) and it's 6 or 7 months past the posted completion dates, how can you be so sure the traffic light won't take a full year?
But what about the parking? THE PARKING!!
- The Return of TCNN
I thought the 3 blocks of Castro between 22nd and Elizabeth were finished (except for the crosswalks) when I saw the diggers out there again digging up the freshly cured concrete they had put down just weeks before on the uphill slopes of Castro. I ]asked one of the workmen what was up. He told me the tech busses were scraping their bottoms as they descended or ascended the hill before entering or just leaving the flat intersections because they are extra long and ride low.
Church & 24th could use a light much more than this intersection.
Yes, Church & 24th is a mess.
I heard the neighbor's worries about traffic on Cesar Chavez speeding up as drivers try to time the new light. I hope they install some device to record the traffic speed to see if this is happening.
I agree that Church and 24th needs a light way more than Church and Cesar Chavez. I frequently walk, bike and drive through both of those intersections. Church and Cesar Chavez is pretty calm, and it's rare that there's anyone else at a stop sign when I'm passing through. Church and 24th, however, is almost always busy.
I have posted before about this - I have to disagree with a stoplight on Church & 24th. A green light would allow cars to proceed unimpeded from Dolores to Vicksburg, at minimum. Possibly from Guerrero to Vicksburg, if the Dolores light is also green. Drivers often times build up a lot of speed, especially on the hill up to Dolores, and I think the stop sign is very, very important to force drivers to stop as they are entering the "village" (so-called). The intersection is a cluster, no doubt, but the stop sign at least forces driver to pay attention as they are entering this pedestrian heavy area, as opposed to barreling through a green light.
The other point is a stoplight allows drivers to perfectly legally turn right on green, without stopping. I think this is a extremely dangerous at this intersection. A stop sign forces drivers to stop prior to turning right.
Stoplights are advantageous for moving cars through the area very efficiently and quickly, if that is what we want, but I don't see how they would improve safety for pedestrians, and I see at least 2 ways they would detract from pedestrian safety.
johnnyawe said… "A green light would allow cars to proceed unimpeded from Dolores to Vicksburg, at minimum. Possibly from Guerrero to Vicksburg, if the Dolores light is also green."
I had to laugh when I read that. If one could get a green light at a newly installed stop light at Church St (and proceeding east) got a green light all the way to Guerrero that adds up to a whopping 4 short blocks. Would that be a record for not having to stop? Considering how many stop signs have been installed requiring stops at nearly every block all over the City I would consider this stretch of 24th St to be an endangered species.
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