one reason or the other. we will go between union square and chinatown. is this right thing to do? thank you for your support. >> i can to speed gun and other issues coming before you. i feel compare of -- i feel compelled to talk about this. from what i've heard, this is a lot of money spent with very little good return. i ride my bicycle on stockton street all the time and it is packed with automobiles. if some of them can be

diverted, they could probably run spending money on the central subway and it would be much much cheaper. we all know that muni is really suffering now to and from what i have heard, this money could be much better spent other places. i am not an expert but you guys have heard all the testimony before and against a this is what i have heard. >> thank you. are there any presentations by the staff? >> i am prepared to move the item. >> all those in favor. so ordered. >> thank you. >> mr. chairman, members of the board. as the city's ability managers,

we are seeking out ways to make our transportation system safer and more user-friendly for all people. item 11 is an item that grew out of the city's market octavia plan which recommended making this a two-way their fair. the plan recommended making this a two-way street between van ness avenue and franklin. our recently promoted city traffic manager will be presenting the presentation. >> this is an object that has been analyzed for the past few years and has community support.

are there any questions that come up about the planning process prior to mta involvement. this is a to block segment. we also would like to make -- two ways and these are complementary to each other in order to address some of the issues. we have changes we're making for parking and also on the portion of hayes and make some adjustment although that will remain a one-way street. the pattern in the area was established in the 1950's and this is part of the traffic management to move this through the area. we have received a lot of requests from the community.

there's been an area planet that has been looked at and been recommended and has been made between -- there was a resolution in 2007 urging our department to act on this recommendation. we are trying to find kind -- fine-tune some of the issues. some of the proposals were just it as part of that meeting. we had a community workshop that we posted where we discussed in 2009 the various possibilities of making the streets two ways. we presented the item recently to the governance and policy

committee. we received the go-ahead. the plan department and the addendum to the area plan. we got about 11 people who speak in support including the major neighborhood group in the area. this is a very private commercial area. this has been one of the great areas and we could have gone their shopping and dining hall. this is one lane in each direction. this is the ideal neighborhood street for the commercial purposes.

this is a three lane street heading in the westbound direction. this is commercial. right now, it has one way traffic. right now, there are three lanes on hayes. the proposal is to take this into a eastbound lane. there would be no parking changes in this block which is the heavily commercialized block. there is no impact of that type on this block. on this block between van ness and franklin is definitely less commercial. the back of the symphony and the back of the school district, there is no active frontage on the sides.

there are four lanes there of one way traffic. it looks like this. the north side has no parking at any time and then the other side has the towaway. the proposals is to take one of the lanes and turn it into an eastbound lane so this would be the last block of two-way traffic in the eastbound direction. this would be forced to turn right. this would not be able to turn north on van ness. this will provide some access to the neighborhood. this is an additional

circulation advantage. of course, there is the loss of attractive lanes. hear, the lanes were strike much more tightly. there are five lanes there during the peak hours. this is a cheap by removing parking from both sides. the proposal is to have standards. these are better suited for truck and muni traffic. these are slightly wider than 10 feet. we are striking standard lines and prohibiting parking on the north side at all times. then we have a restricted parking lane on the south side which is allowing vehicles to go south on van ness.

there is concerns that we have been addressing them over time. these are major streets, their connecting this out the market with the freeway network which are major streets that direct traffic towards the west and north down parts of town. what happens when we make these changes? this shows the traffic volumes that are present during the peak hour. roughly speaking, there are about 2000 vehicles that come in between van ness and franklin. a significant portion are using these to go north to franklin. another of those turned south and a lot of those vehicles are trying to get to sell street.

let the issues is how can this have an alternative to the current routing of pays? -- of hayes. traffic can access -- directly using the van ness block. this is coming on hayes going westbound. this is the major arterial one way. this allows for some diverted traffic.

this is the block itself. right now, this is three ways. we would propose to turn one of these into one way westbound lanes. the other would remain at all times. we would add a third lane during the morning rush hour. somewhat access the freeways south of market. we'd would retain three lanes in the morning peak by prohibiting parking on the south side. this is something that we have actually done in the past. we rescinded it when octavia boulevard was opened. when we look all these changes,

these are operating at an acceptable level of service. this diagram shows the latest level of services which is an aggregate measure at an intersection. what you want to look at are those that in the e or f version. we're assuming that this will redirect north on larkin and some will also redirect through this new two-way. the 21 hayes, this is one of the split routes where in the inbound direction it operates on "from laguna to pull -- it operates on -- from laguna to polk. in order to have the inbound

direction operate also on hayes, we would have had to have make the two-way segment between polk and van ness. right now come the proposal is thought to have that segment approve. -- right now, the proposal is to not have that segment approved. we don't know what amount of traffic will be used. we're not sure if it would operate better on haiti's -- on hayes. this would have a lot of capital expenditures. what we're recommending is doing

the changes that are before you and then in the future revisiting this issue once traffic has settled and we have a better idea of how traffic is distributed. then we could see will happen if we made this last block between coke and van ness a two-way segment. we will have a signal a change which will give more time at that intersection. right now, all of the westbound traffic is stopped when the south crosswalk is on. what we will do is reconfigure the signal, which is relatively old. we need to do and of great so that -- will get a green white -- so that -- will get a green light.

another proposal is to rescind the bus zone that is currently at franklin in the outbound direction. there is the stop for the inbound direction. this means that they can be inbound and outbound. by removing this zone which is more likely use to than the adjacent, we can have the bus proceed in a more expedited manner. it produces the delay from missing a green cycle or the opportunity to proceed towards golf. this is one of the ways we can minimize the impact on 21 hayes. the block between polk and a van ness, we will have transit only lanes. this will create an opportunity for buses to use that lane to

bypass any congestion that may happen. that is another proposal that we have in order to expedite service on that block. this is a summary of some of the parking changes. we have tried to minimize the parking impact in the immediate commercial areas. there is a combination of impact that are full time and part time. we are rescinding the ninth street tollway on the west side to reduce one of the lanes that goes into hayes to balance it out. this has been a project that has been an long time being planned by the city and staff. we are recommending that the board consider these changes.

they are relatively major changes and that is why we're presenting the separately but we are confident that we have tried to minimize as much as possible to delay the impact. there might be some issues we need to work out once this is implemented. we think that we can do these this year. we had the market octavia approve some of their funds to pay for the sign changes. we're thinking that this can be implemented this year and then we will monitor and try to make adjustments as required. >> thank you. >> unless the chair would like to speak to the fact -- >> the community has supported this and the process that this

has gone through, this is kind of a jigsaw puzzle to do, so very impressive the advantage to work through all of these issues. the hayes valley neighborhood association did not put out a call for people to come and support this because they did it go to the initiative hearing and fell that they were all heard there. we all appreciate that. thank you. >> thank you. >> [inaudible]

>> i am opposed to these changes. i like two way street. i grew up on a street that was a two-way street and this was back in brooklyn, n.y.. this was mixed commercial, residential area. they turned it into a one-way street at one point and it was a less friendly street. there is a place for this and this is not the place. i don't think that i'm speaking on the basis of a narrow self- interest. i can wait in traffic with the meter running. as a cabdriver, i can get around traffic jams better than most. i think there is a bigger picture here. yes, this includes the merchants, it includes the neighborhoods and also the

entire western half of the city which is going to be impacted by this change in a to block stretch. i see and less traffic delays. as far as the neighborhood itself is concerned, i don't see how you are creating a more neighborhood-friendly streak when it is full of traffic waiting from one end to the other and beyond. i don't think that the impact on surrounding streets and neighborhoods will be could be there. with all due respect, i urge you to oppose this. thank you. >> good afternoon, mr. chairman, commissioners come aboard. i am here on behalf of the center for international

schools. we are generally supportive of the conversion to two-way traffic. we are concerned about the impact on -- we are concerned about the addition of cars, which is currently quite backed up in the afternoon. we encourage the mta to consider the green signal times and essentially adding another line of traffic in the evening. >> next speaker.

>> i am sorry that i missed the january 21st meeting. i want to refer to some comments. where are the cars going to go when the changes occur? they will go to test -- they will go to fan ness. -- van ness. when this goes because of the street fair, where are the cars going to go? where are they going to go? i don't think that this has been addressed. what you're going to do, you'll have gridlock. people not to frequent this

area. you have cars coming down the street who also need to go somewhere. i have not taken be exit in months, four years, because the traffic is so backed up. you need an alternative. there are no freeways through town so people need a thoroughfares. i don't think that you have adequate studies. remember, this was done a while back and there was not proper funding. this is the updates that you can see which changes have occurred and do traffic counts. there is also lots of concern about whether the cars will be able to get through. the taxi service will also be hindered because the drivers will not be able to get through

the area because of the blockade. where the taxes go? how did they get to the public? -- where do the taxis go? >> i am the co-founder of united taxicab workers. i remember when this was a one- way street. now you have created virtual gridlock. there are some special factors that appertain to the hayes valley neighborhood in terms of transit. i thought that you were committed more less under your charter to transit first, transit first. not necessarily the brae and wine crowd. the specific factor that pertains to traffic is often the area for those coming west

trying to reach the hospital. the consequences of re- engineering this is virtually and real. you are going back to an alice in stockton tied situation. this is not transit first. this should go back to the drafting board before you go do it. thank you. >> i hate to break the stereotype but i like wind and sometimes have it on -- i liike >> this is the major thrill for the neighborhoods. the thing about gridlock, it is absolutely true. i noticed the the study is missing and number of cars. there is no mention whatsoever,

they have done a study. there is massive traffic on venice going to the freeway south. basically, you are creating gridlock. i don't know if it will help the merchants. that is how a hunky dory it is for the community. i don't really think it will be fair for them either. >> good afternoon, commissioners? contrary to the previous speakers, i am a 20-year resident. i am very supportive of this proposal. also, i am wearing three hats here. i am a member of market octavia,

to strongly endorse this plan. i'm also a member of the neighborhood association as was the transportation and planning committee. they strongly endorsed this plan. i also have been very active in helping the octavia plan. the market plan, this is one of the proposals theory i want to thank staff very much for looking at this early. and going forward with this. i think we have come up with a good compromise. we have a lot of traffic in my neighborhood. the street is the neighborhood commercial street. when i think through the whole city, i think of the street. on and on and on, all of these

neighborhood commercial streets are two-way traffic streets. hayes valley is the only neighborhood in the city where part of it is commercial district is the freeway. this is a start. we have a lot of problems with traffic in the neighborhood. we have places where pedestrians cannot cross the street. that is also very dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists. this is where we are very supportive of. >> ralph jacobson is the last speaker that has turned in a card. >> good afternoon, board members. i said he will e-mail's.

there are approximately 2000 cars. also weakened hours, especially saturday and sunday afternoon, where are they going to go? you believe that everything will just simply disappear, ho way, and vanished? the officials expect them to use a targeted portion of the street to be diverted to other roads. solving one problem will not create another. you don't want to take traffic from one neighborhood and put it into another. [unintelligible] market street is already overcrowded. venice is also very cr