Proposed: Traffic Signal For Intersection Of Church And Cesar Chavez Streets

There's a small sign posted on a pole at Cesar Chavez and Church Streets announcing a hearing about a proposed traffic signal for that intersection. Pretty big news, right? There have been calls for a stoplight at 24th/Church, but this is the first we've heard of one at this busy intersection. Our initial reaction is that it's not necessary unless it can smooth the interaction of pedestrian traffic on Church and all the cars trying to get to 101. Otherwise, this intersection flows pretty smoothly. So where did this proposal come from? Follow us down the rabbit hole (and watch out for PDFs).

Remember the SFMTA's Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP)? When we covered it in 2008 the main issue was bus routes - there was a strong push to alter routes and eliminate stops to speed up the service. Then in 2012 the J Church line was included in Muni Forward's Travel Time Reduction Proposal (TTRP). Basically, the proposal aims to speed the J Church along its route by reducing stops, relocating boarding areas, creating transit-only lanes and (this is the key part) including "traffic calming" at certain intersections (more on that below). The SFMTA study says changes will "reduce the travel time of the J Church within the study area by about 6.5 minutes total in both directions."

Projects like this are never easy in San Francisco, and of course there was an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The huge public response sent everyone back to the drawing board, and many changes were made (for fellow planning dorks here are the three huge PDFs documenting response to public feedback: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). The end result is that the amended EIR was approved with changes on May 22, 2014.

Approval of said EIR is what grants the SFMTA authority to add a traffic signal to Cesar Chavez and Church Streets. But what isn't clear is why the SFMTA is pursing a stoplight at this intersection only. The TTRP stipulates changes along the Church St route at 25th, 26th, and Day Streets -- the "expanded alternative" asks for unspecified "traffic calming" measures for those intersections, but offers a "moderate alternative" that will instead install traffic signals. (The TTRP makes clear that 24th and Church will get a light, but other changes there make for a bigger project that will likely happen later.) The August 1 hearing is asking the public to approve one of those traffic signals without addressing the rest of the J Church route.

If you have an opinion on this traffic light want your voice heard please attend the August 1 hearing at City Hall: 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 416 at 10:00am.

Can't make the hearing? Per SFMTA hearing guidelines (emphasis ours):

Opinions on these proposed changes may be filed in writing prior to the hearing by email (link to sustainable.streets@sfmta.com) with the subject line “Public Hearing.” Written opinions may also be transmitted to the Sustainable Streets Division via fax at 415.701.4737 or by mail: Engineering Public Hearing, Sustainable Streets Division, One South Van Ness Avenue, 7th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5417. Submitted opinions will become part of the official public record and will be brought to the attention of the person(s) conducting the hearing.

This Week In Noe Valley: The Soda Tax War Kicks Off, Remembering The Winter Of Love, And More Photos Of Snow In The City

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Scott Wiener and other supes support the Soda Tax ballot measure [scottwiener.com]
• Opponents of the Tax argue it makes SF more expensive; 6 people hired to canvass neighborhoods, including Noe Valley [SF Gate]
• Why housing costs keep rising in SF (short version: there isn't enough of it) [Michael Rhodes]
• Ellis Act perpetrators are the evil ones, not the Google bus riders says this op-ed [Beyond Chron]
• To be fair, the Ellis Act was a "problem" long before the Google Bus [NYTimes]
• It's the 10th anniversary of the Winter of Love [Bay Area Reporter]
• The Cesar Chavez project is wrapping up - and neighbors already feel safer [SF Gate]
• More reader photos of the great 1976 San Francisco snowstorm - including fun ones of Noe Valley [SF Gate]
• A profile of Noe resident Christine Schmidt, author of Yellow Owl's Little Prints and some photos of her charming apartment [SF Gate]
• The Tech Search Party returns to Noe Valley on Feb 8 [Tech Search Party]

[Photo: #blossom #spring via oiseaul]

This Week In Noe Valley: Cesar Chavez Explained, Another Wine Walk, And More Summer Fun

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Must read: A brief history of how Cesar Chavez got to be so awful [Bernalwood] 
• Also check out the premiere of People Live Here, a documentary about Cesar Chavez [BH Outdoor Cinema] 
• How to love SF: fog, d-bag startup founders, Muni and all [Anisse Gross]
• SF Girl By the Bay's favorite Noe Valley shops [Anthology]
• July home sales: 10 properties, over-asking, quick close, and average $1.8M [Downing & Co.]
• 3rd Annual Noe Valley wine walk is this Thurs, Aug. 22 [Restivo Events]
• Artist Mona Caron has figured out how to make telecomm utility boxes disappear- beautifully [Castro Biscuit]  
• Check out this new neighborhood before it's a neighborhood, plus a Sunday market [Urban Air Market]  
• An interview with Celia Sack of Omnivore Books [JWeekly]
• What "rustic modern" (?) looks like in Noe [1KinDesign]

[Photo: Gray_Line_SF]

This Week At The Planning Commission: Preschool Vs. Traffic On Cesar Chavez

A look at Noe Valley projects in front of the Planning Commission this week. Information is provided by the Planning Commission, and taken from its published agenda. All hearings are on Thursday at 1:30pm, Room 400 in City Hall.

July 18, 2013

3771 and 3781 CESAR CHAVEZ STREET - south side between Guerrero and Dolores Streets, Lots 030 and 045 in Assessor's Block 6577 - Request for Conditional Use Authorization pursuant to Planning Code Sections 209.3(f), 209.3(j), 317, and 303 to increase enrollment at an existing preschool (d.b.a. Gan Noe Preschool) operating at 3771 and 3781 Cesar Chavez Street and establish a religious facility. Enrollment at the preschool would increase from 22 children to 42 children and the project would result in the removal of the dwelling unit at 3781 Cesar Chavez Street. The proposal does not include any significant alteration or modification to the exteriors of the existing buildings with the exception of minor changes to signage and fencing. The subject properties are located in a RH-2 (Residential, House, Two-Family) District and a 40-X Height and Bulk District.

Preliminary Recommendation: Approval with Conditions

In addition:

Request for Variance from Planning Code Section: 151, for parking, for a project proposing to increase enrollment at an existing preschool and establish a religious facility. Two off-street parking spaces are required for the proposed use but none would be provided. The subject property is located within a RH-2 (Residential, House, Two-Family) District and 40-X Height and Bulk District.

In sum, the Project Sponsor asks to expand the preschool, remove a dwelling unit and add a religious facility (d.b.a. Chabad of Noe Valley) that will have services and events throughout the week.

Planning states receipt of 20 letters from neighbors against the project, and receipt of a petition of 40 names in support (but doesn't indicate if those in support are from parents who want their kids in the preschool).

Planning recognizes there are some major issues, including:

The Project Sites are located on a heavily trafficked arterial street that is the main thouroughfare for access to Highway 101 from Noe Valley. It is unknown how the increase in children would affect traffic on the street but the sponsor has agreed to implement a traffic management plans whereby teachers would help facilitate student dropoff within the driveways and within a new loading zone located between the driveways and implement a staggered pick-up and drop-off.

But Planning staff recommend approval because:

Preschool/child care services are difficult to find in the City and those that operate often have long waiting lists. The ability of the City to provide these services will help its ability to attract and retain families in the City. Housing is also a scarce resource in the City. On balance, the need to help preschool/childcare services flourish in the City out weigh the benefit of retaining the existing dwelling unit

The only letters in support of the project included in the Planning Document are from the Project Sponsor.
Opposition has been led by neighbor Richard Rochman of Citizens Concerned about Cesar Chavez St. We've posted the PDF of their opposition here. It's well worth a read as this project will affect anyone who uses Cesar Chavez.

Planning contact is Michael Smith, (415) 558-6322.

Update (7/18): Lots of thoughtful testimony. Commissioners sensitive to both daycare/preschool issues and also use of the site as a religious facility, but want followup to assure that neighbors' concerns are addressed over the long term. Commission approved with conditions about operating hours, strict limits on number of students and noise mitigation, and addition of traffic monitoring on a 6-0 vote.

[SF Planning: 3771 and 3781 Cesar Chavez St Conditional Use (PDF)]
[Citizens Concerned about Cesar Chavez St: Opposition to Gan Noe's application] 
[Photo: Richard Rochman]

This Week in Noe Valley: What $4,000 in Rent Gets You, NV Has A Farm Stay and SF Is The Snobbiest City

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Incanto's Chris Cosentino gets schooled by an Alinea-trained pastry chef [Grub Street]
• Spotted: City has a history of dissing Cesar Chavez [Can It Happen Here?] 
• SF is #1 on the snobbiest city list - and the most gay friendly too [Travel and Leisure]
• What $4,000 gets you in Noe Valley - and elsewhere in the city [Curbed]
• Sway clothing store on 24th St is now a chain, expands to Upper Haight [Uppercasing]
• Jack Kerouac used to live in this Noe Valley home - and probably smoked on the stoop too [Twitter]
• Put your visiting friends and relatives up in Noe Valley's first (and SF's only) farm stay [HuffPo]

[Photo: John Piscitello]

Update: Cesar Chavez Streetscape Improvements

Work on Phase II of the Cesar Chavez sewer upgrade streetscape improvement project began last month and like the sewer work will move east to west. Crews are currently rerouting curbs and catch basins between Hampshire and Bryant. CC Puede's Fran Taylor attended last night's neighborhood meeting and sent this update:

The work is scheduled to be finished by the end of the year and will be done in phases:

1. Drainage and bulbouts: 20 bulbouts on the corners with planters to catch rainwater will be done first.
2. Median: Next, the median curbs will be laid out.
3. Repaving: The repaving will be done in sections: Hampshire to Florida in Sept/Oct, Florida to Folsom in late October, Folsom to Mission in November, and Mission to Guerrero at the end.
4. Sidewalks: Next, the new street lamps and other sidewalk improvements will be done.
5. Plantings: The last step will be sticking all those new plants In the ground on both the sidewalks and the median.

Lanes were reconfigured after sewer work was completed to approximate traffic flow when finished. The pavement has been rough, but traffic seems to flow smoothly. When this project was first announced plenty of our readers expressed dismay over the loss of traffic lanes despite the addition of dedicated turn lanes and bus pullouts. Now that the changes are more evident, we're curious - how have the changes affected your commute?

[SFDWP: Cesar Chavez Sewer & Streetscape Project]
[NVSF: Cesar Chavez: Work Starts In June (2011)]
[Photo: SFDPW (PDF)]

This Week In Noe Valley

News from, about and for Noe Valley from around the interwebs:

• Those Cirque du Cesar Chavez tents are protecting you from sewer lining sealant [SFDPW]
• "Cheap" Noe Valley Homes [Curbed SF]
• The Chronicle explores Upper Noe Valley [SFGate]
• "San Francisco is now among the cleanest counties in the country in terms of smog" [SFGate]
• It's a (condo) sellers market in Noe Valley [Downing CO]
• Vivid Floral vacates Church St space before opening [NVSF]

[Photo: Redfin]

Cesar Chavez: Work Starts In June

CC Puede's Fran Taylor sent the following update about the upcoming construction and redesign of the Cesar Chavez corridor:

The May 11 meeting on the Cesar Chavez Street project drew well over 50 people and was crammed with information, which I tried to note down. Here it is, in somewhat higgledy-piggledy fashion.

The sewer work is scheduled to begin in late June, starting at Hampshire and working west. The construction crews will work on three- or four-block chunks at a time. These blocks will have no parking during the work, which will involve digging a trench 10 to 13 feet wide to accommodate the 72 to 84-inch-diameter pipes being installed.

In addition, on the south side of Cesar Chavez, the existing pipes will be relined. Workers will need to block traffic for this as well.

From Hampshire to Treat, the trench is expected to be closer to the north side of the street; west of Treat, the trench is expected to be closer to the middle of the street. Two travel lanes in each direction will be maintained on Cesar Chavez throughout the project, but the lanes will move according to where the trench is. The existing three lanes of traffic west of the project will be gradually merged into two lanes in the construction area.

For the crossing of Mission Street, workers will avoid digging a trench to minimize disruption to Muni and BART service. Instead, they will dig two pits, one each at Capp and Bartlett, and install the pipe with a trenchless method.

In addition to Cesar Chavez, sewer construction work will take place on the following streets in the area as part of this project:
* Harrison: from Cesar Chavez to 26th
* Valencia: from Cesar Chavez to Mission
* Fair: from Mission to Coleridge
* Coleridge: from Fair to Coso
* Coso at Coleridge

Each block should take five to six weeks, and the first large segment from Hampshire to Folsom should take about nine to 10 months. When each three-block chunk is completed and reopened, the street will be striped according to the new streetscape striping, with parking lanes, bike lanes, two car travel lanes in each direction, and turn pockets or turn restrictions as outlined in the approved plan. As part of the streetscape improvements, the greening, repaving, and median work won’t begin until the sewer work reaches Folsom, about nine months after it begins.

The sewer work on Cesar Chavez would take 15 to 16 months, and the streetscape work another nine months, totaling about two years. Work hours will be Monday through Friday, 8 am to 6 pm, with some possible weekend work. City officials emphasized that residents will have local access, and, on the occasions when driveways must be blocked, the contractors will contact households individually to work with them on solutions.

Notices that will be distributed before the project starts will include a 24-hour number for questions and complaints. The city will conduct meetings similar to the one last Wednesday every three or four months to update and obtain feedback from the community.

Alex Murillo of the DPW Office of Communications and Public Affairs will be the contact person for the project, and he gave out his office phone number (415/437-7009) and cell number (415/627-8106). Brave man! He can be reached at Alex.M.Murillo@sfdpw.org. The project is also up on the DPW website: http://www.sfdpw.org/index.aspx?page=1166.

The project manager for the streetscape aspect is Kris Opbroek, who can be reached at Kris.Opbroek@sfdpw.org or 415/558-4045.

After the presentations, a lively discussion ensued, mostly focused on the approach to combining or separating stormwater runoff from wastewater.

Mission Streetscape Preview: Cesar Chavez Road Diet

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Wondering how the traffic flow on Cesar Chavez is going to work when it drops from 6 lanes to 4 as part of the Mission Streetscape Project? StreetsBlog posted this video that explains the mechanics and highlights the benefits to the neighborhood and drivers. San Francisco has over 40 streets that are on or slated for a "road diet" - thanks to a reader for pointing out that Valencia and Cesar Chavez are featured prominently in this film. Among the benefits the SFMTA cites are better traffic flow, revitalized retail, more parking, safer pedestrian walking areas, dedicated bike lanes, and more trees/green. And it looks better.

For Noe Valley car commuters that don't like the Cesar Chavez plan and/or just want to get to the freeway the old way, there's still some good news: road diets typically improve neighboring property prices too.

NVV December 2010: We Read It So You Don't Have To

The Noe Valley Voice is published ten times a year and has been a neighborhood fixture since 1977. Here are highlights from the latest issue. Links are to items we've covered here on NVSF or outside sources as the Voice doesn't post stories online until mid-month.

December 2010

Front Page: "This is the last edition you'll see until the first week of February 2011." And a pretty picture of fog.

Letters: Dismay over smoking in the parklet at Martha & Bros. (Ed.--illegal to smoke in SF parks since 2005 [pdf]); some poor soul can't figure out how to find a print copy of the Voice.

Features: Interview with Bevan Dufty on his eight years as District 8 Supervisor; City Guides has been offering Noe Valley tours since 2008 (with fun sketches of Victorian era "bric-a-brac" like sewer vent grates); Giants fans celebrated on 24th St; brief blurb on page 15 about 24 HoliDAYS on 24th St.

Cost of Living in Noe: 16 Single Family Homes sold in October, 11 of those over asking.

Short Takes: A few events in Glen Park, Scottish dancers at the Noe Valley Ministry, fun at the Randall Museum in Corona Heights, a workshop for public artists at the SF Arts Commission on Van Ness, a show at the Marsh Theater on Valencia, and Paxton Gate in the Mission turns 18. Also a bit about upcoming changes to Cesar Chavez.

Crime Beat: Turns out there were two bank robberies last month.

Store Trek: Design Quarter; Re:Construction Salon.

Traveling Voice: Not.

Rumors: Election results; Wiener sets priorities (like the Town Square and Real Foods); Town Square moves ahead (for more info the Voice suggests "googling 'Noe Valley Town Square'"); the Tech Search Party raised "just over $17,000" for Alvarado Elementary School; Delano's is closing its "Eureka Valley" location; Parklets hit 24th St; and this excellent tidbit about the Noe Valley Association:

The NVA, and the 10 members serving on its board of directors, has an annual budget of $230,000, funded by a parcel tax on each of the 179 property owners in the 24th Street/Castro Street shopping area. The board has been quite active this year improving Main Street. They steered the Pavement to Parks process that brought us the parklets. Seven new benches were installed on 24th Street. Few people realize the NVA spends $10,000 a month keeping 24th Street trash-free, maintaining the miniparks in the public parking lot and the Ministry parking lot, tending the many planters and flower baskets and trees, as well as regularly cleaning the Downtown Noe Valley sidewalks. The NVA sponsors, or co-sponsors - in addition to 24 HoliDAYS - the Harvest Festival, the Noe Courts Easter Egg Hunt, and the Summer Solstice.

[The Noe Valley Voice]

The Mission Streetscape Plan: What It Means To Noe Valley

The Mission District Streetscape Plan advanced out of committee to the full SFMTA board for a vote on Friday after years of community meetings and a full Environmental Impact Report. That's the good news. The bad news is that assuming it passes the Board, it will be 10 years before fully implemented at a cost of $96M.

The entire 62MB PDF is available here: Of note to Noe Valley residents:

• Making permanent the much-maligned traffic-calming plaza at 28th and Guerrero (pages 50-51). A priority project: "The City will continue to look for funds to create a permanent plaza at this location per the designs shown in this plan."
• 24th St BART station improvements (pages 42-43). A priority project: "The City has received approximately $2.2 million in grant funds through the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s TLC program to build improvements to the 24th and Mission BART station, including plaza improvements, new bus bulbs on Mission Street, and raised crosswalks at alleys crossing 24th Street."
• Reducing Cesar Chavez to 2 traffic lanes in each direction from Hampshire to Guerrero with dedicated turn lanes, bike lanes, pedestrian bulb-outs, a 12-foot-wide median and a new plaza at Capp/Mission. All that will sacrifice 30 parking places. (pages 54-55, 66-67) Ironically, there is a lot of hate for the project from the bikes-only crowd commenting on StreetsBlogSF - the project doesn't go far enough to protect cyclists.
• Pedestrian safety improvements to Dolores St and the Dolores St park/plaza at San Jose we reported on last year (pages 42-47, 70-71).

When? A projected time line is on page 96. Work on Ceasar Chavez will begin next summer after completion of a sewer replacement project set to start in the next month or so.

[SF Planning: The Mission District Sreetscape Plan]
[SF Planning: Final draft of Better Streets (PDF)]
[NVSF: Proposed: Gateway Park At South End Of Dolores Street]