The Safer Market Street project is one of a package of traffic safety projects underway in San Francisco to achieve a Vision Zero goal to eliminate traffic deaths by 2024.
"The push to divert private cars off of congested central Market Street will accelerate in August when drivers traveling between Eighth and Third streets will no longer be able to turn onto the main thoroughfare," reports J.K. Dineen.
The decision comes from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors, which has set a goal for Vision Zero to eliminate pedestrian deaths.
According to Dineen, the stretch of Market Street impacted by the decision "is a noisy, teeming river of pedestrians, bikes, buses, trolleys, taxis, trucks and skateboarders. While it makes for a lively and entertaining urban boulevard, it is also dangerous — it contains four of the city’s top 20 intersections for pedestrian injury collisions and the top two intersections for bicycle injury collisions."
The change will reduce traffic on the street by 30 to 50 percent, which will, according to the SFMTA, reduce the probability of collisions, fatalities, and injuries. The article also notes that opposition to the proposal was limited while quoting words of support from representatives of WalkSF and the SFMTA's Sustainable Streets Division.
FULL STORY: In safety move, turns onto Market Street to be limited
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