Good news for those who work, live or commute along McAllister Street: the streetscape improvement project, which for months has meant narrow lanes and slowed traffic along the eastern end of the busy corridor, has been completed. Tomorrow, a celebration of the improvements will be held at UC Hastings at 10am, accompanied by a community tree planting.
Upgrades included installing corner bulbouts at the intersection of McAllister and Hyde streets, as well as a traffic island and curb ramp at McAllister and Leavenworth. Additional lighting and tree planting is planned to complete the project. (A full description of the plans and reasoning behind the improvements can be found here.)
According to a press release from the Transportation Authority, it cost an estimated $2.5 million to complete the improvements. $640k of that was donated by UC Hastings and mostly reserved for repaving the sidewalk outside the school.
The project was part of the city's Vision Zero campaign, which aims to eliminate traffic-related fatalities. One the same day that McAllister Street's improvements broke ground, a pedestrian was killed in front of City Hall around the corner.
In response to the fatality, the city pushed forward plans to install traffic lights in front of City Hall as part of the streetscape improvement project. According to Ben Jose of the SFMTA the lights were installed last April.
But back to tomorrow's celebration of pedestrian safety. To wrap up the lower-McAllister streetscape improvements, Friends of the Urban Forest (FUF) will attend the event, and is inviting volunteers to help plant 30 trees throughout the neighborhood.
The event starts at 10am at UC Hastings (198 McAllister St.). At 10:30, a summary of the streetscape improvements will be presented by District 6 Supervisor Jane Kim, UC Hastings Chancellor & Dean Frank H. Wu, Transportation Authority Executive Director Tilly Chang, and Friends of Urban Forest Executive Director Dan Flanagan.
At 11am, volunteers who'd like to plant trees with Friends of the Urban Forest will break into groups. They'll then disperse throughout the neighborhood to plant trees and sidewalk gardens, no experience necessary. Friends of the Urban Forest will provide gloves, tools, and expertise, but they do recommend bringing your own water and snacks.
At 200 McAllister, outside UC Hastings, FUF will plant gingko trees. At all the other locations (see map below), Brisbane box trees will be planted.
Map: FUF
The tree planting should wrap up by 1:30pm, at which time a free lunch donated by Hastings Law College and Friends of the Urban Forest will be served to volunteers.
We'll keep you in the loop with future streetscape improvement projects that take place as part of the Vision Zero campaign.
