April 16, 2008
Arguello and California - Don't Walk Here
This morning we ran north on Arguello to the Presidio. When we reached California Street, it struck us that there were no pedestrian signals at that intersection, which is rife with pedestrians, on a crowded bus line, and right near a couple of schools and a huge synagogue.
Thinking back, most of the intersections to Arguello don't have pedestrian flashers, with the exceptions of Fulton, Geary, and Clement. Every other intersection - including some big ones - just has the lights. We've written and read ad nauseum about the reasons that there are no pedestrian signals on 19th Avenue , and while we think it's stupid it at least makes some financial sense: nobody wants to take responsibility to pay for them, at least until someone dies.
Well, here's a chance to do something positive before someone gets hurt. Arguello is owned by the city, so there should be no conflicts with Caltrans. It's a street with quite a few pedestrians - we passed dozens on our run, and there were people waiting to cross at each corner of California - what's going on? Is there some secret kill-the-walkers cabal that operates on Arguello?
Image credit:bigoteetoe under a Creative Commons license
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I actually think it's a conspiracy against California. If you'll notice, there are no pedestrian signals at Calif and 19th, but they ARE there at Lake and 19th. What gives?
i live on that corner and would LOVE a preventive measure, i.e. a freakin' pedestrian signal.
This city is lacking in a lot of pedestrian signals. Most crosswalks on Van Ness don't have them, except for the few by City Hall.
I live a block away from Arguello. I hate (!) crossing on the sketchy crosswalks where there isn't a light just to get to overpriced milk from Arguello Super. I second the recommendation of some more lights along that corridor.
My little brother got mugged on that corner last Saturday. Maybe better pedestrian lights would mean more people walking and fewer kids getting robbed.
they do have intersections. they just don't have them every few other blocks
Word, SFist Dan. Also, this is one of the busiest bike thorougfares in the city -- and countdown timers are tremendouly helpful to cyclists.
Ah, Jack! You just ruined it! Now that you've mentioned that countdown timers are useful to bicyclists, anything involving Arguello will be considered part of the Bike Plan by a certain gadfly and his ilk, and thus will be environmentally damaging and won't be implemented without judicial review!
The sad thing is, I wrote that with my tongue only half in my cheek...
isn't there a traffic light at that intersection? a runner in your fine shape should be able to make it across in plenty of time when you have a green light, no?
Yes, I can, but that's not the point. What if an old man comes down from the synagogue, sees the green light, assumes it's safe to cross, gets halfway across on the yellow, then gets splattered by one of San Francisco's estimable drivers? Countdown signs help prevent this.
This morning Taraval officers cited twenty motorists at 30th and Lincoln for failing to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.
The SFPD needs to do more sting operations citing motorists who don't yield to pedestrians in crosswalks, regardless of crossing signals. I don't know about anyone else here, but every time I try and cross a street, especially where those safety signs are in place that state it's the law to yield to pedestrians, drivers continue to zip by without slowing down or stopping.
Most of the intersections on Van Ness and 19th Ave don't have pedestrian lights because those are streets are state highways, thus a Caltrans' issue, expect a few more pedestrian lights in several years because of all the red tape.
Don't you love walking into a crosswalk on Geary or Lincoln where there are no traffic lights just to see if the cars will screech to a stop?