At Tuesday's Board of Supervisors meeting, a plan to shrink the vehicle traffic area to two lanes and double the width of the sidewalks on the main drag of Castro Street was approved. Sup. Scott Wiener spearheaded the effort, which we first mentioned back in December, involves widening the heavily trafficked sidewalks between 17th and 19th Streets to 21 feet, and adding some more street trees, and lighting.
Some complained that the narrowing of the street is only going to hamper the 24-Divis, which tends to get hung up on these blocks as it is. But the effect will also likely slow traffic down in what is often a highly trafficked street that's crisscrossed all night by drunk pedestrians.
Improvements to the block between 17th and 18th Streets, the 400 block, are expected to be completed by June of next year, in time for Pride, and the 500 block will be done before Castro Street Fair in late September 2014. The whole project is expected to cost $4 million.
Previously: The Castro's Busy Sidewalks May Get Wider
