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Entries tagged: Alternative Transporation

Starting on September 29, San Francisco drivers will start seeing changes in traffic flow on Market Street downtown. Working in coordination with the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, Mayor Gavin Newsom announced the commencement of the Better Market Street Project, a package of several pedestrian and public transit improvements.

According to Mayor Newsom’s press release, “private motorists traveling eastbound on Market Street will be encouraged to turn right on 10th Street before being diverted south at 8th Street… Public transit, bicycle, emergency vehicles and delivery vehicles will continue to fully access Market Street.”

Over the course of the next year, many more innovative traffic diversion efforts will be created. These will include open-air concerts, numerous public art displays, and miniplazas featuring outdoor seating. Because the Better Market Street Project is trial-based, these new features will be refined as needed. This effort is just one outcome of SFBC’s Great Streets Project, a campaign to return San Francisco streets to their rightful place as the center of civic life. According to Kit Hodge, Director the Great Streets Project, “The Better Market Street Project will be a great civic experiment drawing on the wisdom of everyone who uses the street, or would like to. We look forward to learning what works from the trials, and building on success.”

As part of their efforts, the City will use new media technologies like Twitter, 311, email, and Facebook for public feedback, which will prove essential in determining the project’s future.

Carolyn Diamond, Executive Director of the Market Street Association, explains that Market Street “deserves to be a grand boulevard.”