Transit-only lanes and extended, wheelchair-accessible transit boarding islands are just some of the improvements coming to the Muni rail line that serves the Ocean View, Merced Heights, Ingleside and Outer Mission neighborhoods as part of the M Ocean View Transit and Safety Project.
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Directors of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved the final project designs at their Tuesday meeting. Michael Rhodes, transit priority manager, said the project seeks to improve passenger safety, improve reliability and provide more access for wheelchair passengers at transit stops for its 18,000 daily passengers.
The $24.3 million project covers the trackway between Junipero Serra Boulevard to Geneva Avenue, which the project manager said has a host of issues affecting reliability and passenger safety. Many transit stops require passengers to board on and off trains on the street and a long gap between transit stops with wheelchair ramps.
Additionally, the project addresses pedestrian safety in the project area.
New Transit Stop
The transportation agency will consolidate two transit stops on 19th Avenue (Junipero Serra Boulevard and Byxbee Street) into a new transit stop that will be installed at 19th Avenue and Sargent Street to improve the safety of passengers boarding trains. The new transit stop will include a wheelchair-accessible boarding island to accommodate two-car trains.
The Ingleside Light reported last November that the Salvation Army SF All Nations Corps raised concerns about the new boarding island as the proposal would remove parking spaces in front of the organization. Transit planners have since revised the plan to shift the boarding island southward and slightly shorten the island which will preserve three more parking spaces in front of the Salvation Army.
Still, Maj. Matt Madsen with the Salvation Army said the project will be a “hardship” for them as they will have to make changes in the way serve the community with their food pantry and church services.
A map showing a high-level overview of all of the changes approved for the M-Line. | Courtesy SFMTA
Transit Boarding Islands and Transit Bulbs
The SFMTA will extend existing transit boarding islands at two transit stops so that passengers on the M can get and on off the train safely. They will be installed at San Jose Avenue and Farallones Street and San Jose Avenue and Lakeview Street.
Transit bulbs will be installed at Randolph and Arch streets, Randolph and Bright streets and Broad Street and Capitol Avenue.
A staff report said that from 2017 to 2022, there were 10 crashes between passengers getting on and off the train and vehicles in the project area.
Additionally, the project adds wheelchair-accessible transit stops at 19th Avenue and Sargent Street and San Jose and Geneva avenues, which is the terminus of the line where a full boarding islands will be installed, Rhodes said.
Transit-Only Lanes
The project will add a transit-only lane on San Jose Avenue to improve the reliability of the M, Rhodes said.
In the northbound direction, the transit-only lane will be from Broad Street to Niagara Avenue, and the southbound transit lane will be between Niagara Avenue and Farallones Street.
Pedestrian Safety
To increase the visibility of pedestrians at crosswalks, the project will add pedestrian bulbs at four intersections at Randolph and Broad streets. All-way stop signs will be added at the intersections of Broad Street and San Jose and Avenue and Randolph and Bright streets.
The intersection of Broad Street and San Jose Avenue will have pedestrian refuges where people can have a safe space to pause while crossing the street.
Bike Lanes
The project includes installing bike lanes on 19th Avenue between Beverly and Randolph streets. Currently, there are sharrow markings on the ground that connect to the bike lanes on Brotherhood Way. The transportation agency will install a protected bike next to the new boarding islands at 19th Avenue and Sargent Street. In other locations, the agency will install a standard bike lane next to the parking lane.
Timeline
Rhodes said that depending on the weather and the agency’s sign shop availability, the transportation agency could start quick-build elements of the project in the spring or summer of this year.
Some of those elements could include painting safety zones at locations where new or extended transit boarding islands are being installed, painting transit-only lanes and implementing any traffic changes.
Rhodes said the agency will work with the community on possible amenities that can be added to transit stops, including lighting, seating and landscape.
Full construction will begin in 2026 and last until 2028.
