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Polk Streetscape Project

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Polk Street is a thriving neighborhood and commercial corridor that serves an important transportation function for San Francisco. It also has some of the highest pedestrian and bicycle collision rates in the City. On average, one person walking and one person biking are hit by a vehicle each month on Polk Street (122 in a five-year period).

For years, Polk Street has been the site of many traffic-related injuries and the corridor is currently on San Francisco’s Vision Zero High Injury Network. This network represents 12 percent of San Francisco’s surface streets and is where injuries, including severe and fatal injuries, are most concentrated.

San Francisco's Vision Zero policy calls for eliminating traffic-related fatalities by 2024.

The corridor is not only the designated street for the #No. 19 Muni bus line; it also is a preferred north-south bicycle route due to its flatter terrain. Polk Street also is a popular place for people to walk.

The Polk Streetscape Project was designed to enable safe access for all road users of all ages and abilities. Through community input and technical evaluation, the proposed design includes corridor-wide safety improvements and additional streetscape amenities at key locations.

Partnering on the project are San Francisco Public Works, San Francisco Planning Department, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.

The Polk Streetscape Project aims to increase safety for people walking and biking on Polk Street, as well as improve the efficiency of transit on the corridor. This project will build on Polk Street's vibrant commercial character by improving safety and transportation choices.

Upcoming improvements on Polk Street between Beach and McAllister streets and nearby alleyways will include repaving, street base repair, sidewalk corner bulb-outs, to shorten the crossing distance, ADA-compliant curb ramp upgrades, Muni bus stop optimization; such as bus stop consolidation or relocation, bus bulb-outs for easier boarding, and left and right turn lanes to improve traffic flow, raised cycle tracks, green bike lanes, sewer replacements, water line replacement, traffic signal upgrades, high visibility crosswalks, better visibility at crosswalks, commercial-loading improvements, landscaping, tree planting, street lighting and alley enhancements to Fern Alley, to enhance the pedestrian and bicyclist experience with the creation of a well-lit plaza atmosphere, widening of the existing sidewalk, decorative asphalt, raised crosswalks, traffic calming measures and planting of palm trees.

To help achieve these improvements, the design necessitates the removal of 106 parking spaces along the Polk Street corridor and 28 spaces on side streets.

Updates on changes of design elements on the Polk Streetscape Project:

SFMTA has recently announced that plans for Polk Street bike lane will be modified from raised to road level.
The previous plan for the Polk Streetscape Project included a raised bike lane, with a two-inch mountable curb, on the northbound side of Polk from McAllister to Pine streets. But in our experiment with different curb designs last year on Market Street, we found that raised bike lanes on commercial streets like Polk should have a parking-protected configuration, with a lane of car parking and loading zones between the bike lane and the roadway, to prevent drivers from parking in the bikeway.
 
Making room for that parking lane on Polk would require major changes to the plan already under construction. To make the bike lane safer without a major delay, the northbound bike lane will no longer be raised but will be built at road level with plastic safe-hit posts and a painted buffer zone to separate it from the traffic lanes.
 
For more information, visit www.sfmta.com.
 
Crosswalk design at Polk and Green streets will be modified to reflect SFMTA crosswalk guidelines and to meet budget constraints.
Crosswalks along Polk Street are marked using continental striping. The SFMTA adopted continental crosswalk striping as the citywide standard in May 2014. The proposed decorative crosswalk shown at Polk and Green by the City in March 2014 during the community outreach phase of the project will not be used. The high visibility continental crosswalk markings help advance our goal to make Polk Street safer for everyone. We apologize for not notifying the community sooner. 
 
Please be assured that other key safety improvements will be implemented along Polk Street. The City is building on Polk Street's vibrant commercial character by investing in new lighting, landscaping, repaving, installation of a protected bike lane, sidewalk bulb-outs, traffic signal upgrades, pedestrian countdown signals and ADA curb ramp upgrades. 
 

Upcoming traffic changes: 

SFMTA legislated parking and loading changes for Polk Street and these changes will be implemented after final paving is completed for each segment. The parking and loading changes to the Polk side streets north of California Street have been implemented and the remainder of side streets changes will occur later this spring. To see the final parking and loading changes on Polk Street and the cross-streets, please see the final traffic striping plan here.

With the upcoming Polk Street paving work, SFMTA is implementing new striping of travel lanes with new improved bikeway designs. Parking and loading changes will occur with the new striping, including the removal of all parking on the east side of Polk Street between Pine Street and McAllister Street and some removal of parking on the west side of Polk Street with improved commercial and passenger loading spaces to better accommodate the area's demand. See www.sfmta.com/polk for more information.

Location

Polk Street from McAllister Street to Beach Street 
Redwood Street, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue
Elm Street, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue
Willow Street, Polk Street to Larkin Street
Olive Street, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue
Alice B. Toklas Place, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue
Hemlock Street, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue
Fern Street, Polk Street to Larkin Street Alleyway Improvement
Austin Street, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue Alleyway Improvement
Frank Norris Street, Polk Street to Larkin Street
Chestnut Street, Polk Street to Van Ness Avenue
North Point Street, Van Ness Avenue to Larkin Street

Visit bit.ly/PolkStreetscapeMap for additional details about the project. 


Project and Construction Schedule

Completed Phases:
Community outreach and planning phase: August 2012 - March 2014
Environmental review: September 2014 - January 2015
Engineering public hearing: January 30, 2015
SFMTA Board of Director approvals: March 3, 2015
Detailed Design: Spring 2015 - Winter 2015/2016

Upcoming Phases: 
Construction: October 2016 - 2018

Traffic Striping: Polk Street Final Traffic Striping Plan

Construction Sequence 

The Polk Streetscape Project is anticipated to be completed in six segments. Please note that the following construction durations for each segment are approximate estimates and are subject to change. The projected construction schedule is as follows*: 

Segment 5: October 2016 - September 2017
Segment 4: November 2016 - November 2017
Segment 3: August 2017 - April 2018
Segment 2: September 2017 - June 2018
Segment 1: March 2018 - July 2018
Segment 6: May 2018 - August 2018

*Please note that the construction schedule is subject to change due to rain, equipment breakdown, and/or unforeseen field conditions. Please see posted "No Parking" barricade signs for exact parking restrictions. Parking restrictions may vary per block. 

Polk Streetscape Project Construction Activity Update:

03/05/19: The Polk Streetscape Project is nearing completion! Crews are putting the finishing touches on traffic signal switch over work and are in the process of applying final traffic striping. Please save the date and join us for a ribbon cutting and community celebration on Tuesday, April 2, 2019 at the entrance to Fern Alley at Polk and Fern from 11 AM to 12 PM

Archived Polk Streetscape Project Construction Updates:

(06/2018 - 12/2018)

(12/2017-05/2018)

(08/2017-11/2017)

(02/2017-07/2017)

(08/2016-01/2017)

 

Construction Cost / Funding

Approximately $18,000,000
This project was made possible in part by Proposition K Sales Tax dollars provided by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority.

This project is also partially funded by: 
2011 Road Paving and Street Safety Bond (Prop B)
2014 Transportation and Road Improvement Bond (Prop A)
Proposition K - Your Sales Tax Dollars at Work
PUC Wastewater Bond Fund
PUC Water Enterprise Bond Fund
SFMTA Revenue Bond
Lower Polk Neighbors
Lower Polk Community Benefit District

Additional Information

More information on the Polk Streetscape Project can be found on the following partner websites:
Municipal Transportation Agency
SF Planning

Related Projects: 
Van Ness Improvement Project
19-Polk Bus Stop Changes

Polk Street Traffic Signal Upgrade Project 

The Polk Street Traffic Signal Upgrade Project began construction in January 2017 and has completed installation of new traffic signals at nine intersections along Polk Street from Union to Post streets. Intersections include: Union, Broadway, Pacific, Jackson, Washington, Clay, Sacramento, California, Post

Archived Polk Street Traffic Signal Upgrad Project Construction Updates

(01/2017-07/2017)
 

 

Streetscapes
STATUS Completed
Location
Polk Street, from McAllister St. to Beach St.
LOCATE ON PROJECT MAP
Start Date August 01, 2016
Completion Date December 01, 2018
Budget
$18,000,000
Project Manager
David Froehlich
Project Team
Contact
Coma Te
Phone
628-271-2243