Continued Construction Alert Along Fell And Oak

Continued Construction Alert Along Fell And OakPhoto: Amy Stephenson/Hoodline
Amy Stephenson
Published on October 22, 2014
Noticed a lot of construction activity at the eastern edge of the Panhandle? The block of Baker Street between Oak and Fell has been under renovation as part of an enormous $1.16 million project which, according to the Department of Public Works, includes "pavement renovation, sewer replacement, green infrastructure work, and traffic routing that includes constructing curb ramps, bioretention units and permeable pavement."
According to the project contract specs, the Baker intersection is just one of several intersections along Fell and Oak that will see (or have seen) changes this fall.

Construction started over a month ago, and some of you have let us know that the Oak Fell and Baker intersection turned nightmarish as soon as the barricades were in place. 

One tipster described things thusly: 

Normally, traffic turning to go south onto Baker, you pull into the left lane into the intersection and the bikes go inside (left) along the crosswalk into the park. But now there are barriers up and they don't match up with the crosswalk. So last night, I had bikes on the left and right of me, pulling out into traffic trying to make the new/tiny entrance. Cyclists and drivers are confused as to what to do.

Department of Public Works spokesperson Amy Lam told us that the schedule for the project anticipates a tentative completion date around the end of the year, but that the project could get extended into January depending on the weather.

While the work continues to progress, other traffic hindrances in the area include—you guessed it—tow trucks blocking the bike lane.  Lately a familiar refrain for Wiggle bikers on Fell, it seems that though the issue may be resolved in the westbound bike lane, at least one tow truck belonging to Atlas Towing took the issue over to the eastbound Oak bike lane, as photographed by Nuala Sawyer of Hoodline Divisadero:



If you'd like to avoid Oak Street altogether, note that construction at the new French American School at 1155 Page completed last month, so traffic there is limited largely to pick-up and drop-off times if you're in need of a quick non-Oak getaway.